The "Culture" Health Care Providers & Applications of "Cultural Sensitivity"

Developing a Culturally Sensitive Care Plan
Name
Institution
Developing a Culturally Sensitive Care Plan
Introduction
Culture is termed as learned and transmitted principles, beliefs, and observations of a certain group of people that direct thoughts, choices, and actions in a certain pattern. Culture is a framework that an individual uses in seeing the world, including health and the necessity for care. Different cultures employ diverse mechanisms of care some of which might not bring out the best health care outcome. The manner in which the nurse approaches issues of care is critical as core beliefs and value systems are given more importance when an individual loses the control that he had over aspects of his life due to disease. Behaviors that are linked to the manner in which individuals react to disease, such as fear, pain, and anxiety are shaped by culture. The manner in which Asians, Blacks, American Indians and Hispanics approach cultural issues is varied in different ways.
Asian-American cultural practices, mostly among certain Asian immigrants and refugee populations are naturally different from US cultural norms. For example, looking directly into the eyes of an aged person is equated with contempt. On the other hand, while a limp handshake in the US is regarded negatively, it is a sign of humility and respect in the Asian context. In most Asian communities, physical contact such as warm handshakes or a hug between members of the opposite sex may be interpreted as sexual overtures. In some Asian subcultures, medical providers are expected to greet the oldest member of the group before putting the focus on the other members. In most cases, certain Asian communities especially those that have gone through genocide and political oppression find it hard to demonstrate emotions in their facial expressions. In most cases, health care providers from the Asian culture might be perceived as lacking empathy in the offering of care if they have undergone painful experiences in the past. On the part of the patients, this might also be problematic as the lack of facial expression might be an indication that they agree with the diagnosis even when they do not. In addition to this, the American Asians might find it unable to offer care to the aged since their culture forbids looking at an aged person in the eyes (Janevic, & Connell, 2001).
On the other hand, black-American caregivers are more likely to discuss the patient care with members of the clergy. African-Americans and Hispanic care givers exhibit strong beliefs of filial responsibility and they are also less likely to take care of family members. Most Hispanic care givers believe that women are supposed to offer care to dependent older adults while among blacks the case is different as male care givers are the ones who are expected to care for the sick. For American Indians, care giving is a matter of showing interdependency and for that reason their care is done in groupings. While African Americans and Hispanics are more likely to view care giving as emotional work, Indian caregivers see this task as a duty to the community. African Americans are also more likely to attach spiritual meaning to care giving as compared to Asians and Indians. Among ...