Essay On Cultural Determinant Of Care

Sarah Wilkes: Paper 1: Prompt 1

Culture has a huge impact on a patient’s decision to seek medical consultation. Each ethnic group brings their own values and perspective into the health care system, that differ from that of the traditional American culture. The United States is continuously becoming more culturally and ethnically diverse. In today’s society physicians are faced with the challenge of dealing with emotions while taking into cultural difference. Research shows that across socioeconomic classes and cultures, patients expect physicians to pay attention to their emotions in an empathic way. The only to provide true empathy that many patients are requesting, is to understand the culture of the demographic you are serving. In the following paragraphs, I will explore various cultural beliefs about the health care systems in the African American community, and the solutions that health care providers are providing to create more effective relationships between physicians and ethnic minority patients. One important determinant of care is the interpersonal trust between a patient and their physician. Studies have shown that African American population was less trusting of their physicians than their Caucasian counterparts. Studies that have focused on distrust …show more content…
Men are least likely to seek medical attention than women. As a kid my mother would be more prone to going to the doctor when she was sick in juxtaposition to my dad who believed water and a healthy diet could cure anything. Age also has a big effect on beliefs about medical care. My grandmother grew up in a time where going to the doctors was very expensive for our family and health care insurance was very uncommon in the black community. Old citizens are also afraid of losing their independence, so going to the doctors is almost as equivalent being put in a nursing home. Age and gender effects health care beliefs