Consciousness Raising Essay

Everyone is influenced, as a part of his or her upbringing, by traditions and customs that are handed down from generation to generation. The act of becoming aware of the biases caused by these influences is referred to as Consciousness Raising. When tending to their patients, health care providers must always strive to be cognizant of traditions and customs of the patients for whom they are caring. There are three ways in which I would facilitate Consciousness Raising within the health care setting. First by recognizing bias within my personal sphere of influence, next by educating patients how to recognize the biases that they perceive to be true, and lastly by collaborating with the entire health care team to educate each other and prevent …show more content…
All of us kids were allowed to down to the lake and play near the edge of the water but we were not allowed to go in because our parents believed that the months preceding June were pneumonia weather and therefore allowing oneself to get wet during that time would make you sick. This is one of the biases I would have to overcome in order to provide effective health care to my patients. The belief that weather, particularly cold, could make you ill was a strongly held one and it was not until I got into health care that I understood that illness was caused by a bacteria or virus.
It is important that health care providers’ interview their patients in a non-threatening way in order ascertain what types of biases toward health care they may hold. Health care biases are traditions that are handed down from grandparents and parents and therefore the health care provider should ask about in a non-confrontational way in order to remain sensitive to their patient’s feelings. Once the health care provider has gathered information from the patient, they can decide the best way to educate the patient on the facts about the disease process in which they are