Miscommunications

Decent Essays
I treated a 65 year old, male, Chinese patient for head and cancer who only spoke Cantonese. Prior to the patient arriving for his initial consultation we were unaware that he did not speak any English. The patient’s daughter and son-in-law were responsible for the patients care and translated the consultation given by the radiation oncologist. The patient’s daughter expressed to the physician during the consultation that she did not want her father to know he had cancer. Understandably the physician was not comfortable treating the patient without communicating to him he had a cancer diagnosis, what his outcomes were, and the protocol options for treating his specific cancer, in addition to obtaining his informed consent ethically and for …show more content…
I think it is key to understand that part of the Chinese traditions and culture is that children take care of their aging parents. There is a saying in Chinese – “rearing children for the old age.” In the Chinese culture family is the most important social component and this care is passed down from one generation to the next (Zhao, 2013). It is important that HCPs understand the degree of complexity as it relates to acculturation and filial piety traditions that drives a child to protect a parent by not informing them of illnesses. Some also fear that if they talk about an illness or death it may cause it to happen. Miscommunications can happen due to a traditional deference to authority. For example, a Chinese patient may nod their head by deferring to authority and this could be misunderstood as the patient understanding or approving. It is important the HCP ensures the patient is not just being respectful and understands what is being communicated. This patient faced several social issues as well; one being that he did not drive and had to rely on transportation to and from his appointments. His daughter and son-in-law owned a restaurant and many times they were late for his appointment or they would drop him off and he would have to wait until they could come pick him back …show more content…
As the health care field becomes increasingly culturally diversified it would be advantageous to develop culturally patient education courses to teach effective communication skills to talk with health care providers (HCP) as it relates to their cultural background. For example, in the western culture a patient would ask their HCP questions where as in the Asian culture they may not ask questions as they see the physician as an authority figure. Another way to improve the language barrier is to encourage patients to write a list of questions to ask their HCPs what they can expect in regards to their medical care (Lee et al.,

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