Family Roles & Organization Construct

Cultural Comp SLP 2 Mod
Name
Institution
Introduction
People have different cultural backgrounds and this may place different kinds of demands when it comes to seeking health care. It is an indispensable human right for every individual to express freely their unique cultural values. Health care organizations as well as the healthcare professionals are therefore ardently addressing ethnic disparities, multicultural diversity and racial disparities while offering health care. This has been made more achievable through the guidance of the Purnell Model for Cultural Competence. All health practitioners have the duty to ensure that all clients are handled with sensitivity in respect to their cultural dispositions. This is more important when they understand that even the most enlightened and culturally-understanding individuals are ethnocentric, but not necessarily prejudicial (Purnell & Faan, 2005). This paper is aimed at discussing the family roles & organization construct, workforce issues construct and bio-cultural ecology construct of Purnell’s model as it relates to Korean culture by addressing various sub-constructs.  
Family Roles & Organization Construct 
Purnell defines culture as the totality of socially conveyed behavioral patterns, beliefs, values, arts, life ways, customs, and any other product of human act and cognitive characteristics of a particular people that dictates their worldview and the process of decision making. These unique patterns are either explicit or implicit and are principally learned and transmitted in the family, shared by majority of that culture’s members and are usually emergent phenomena bound to change in response to worldwide phenomena. Purnell argues that culture is learned initially in the family, then in learning institutions and then at community levels as well as other social organizations like the church. The family role as dictated by a culture plays a big role when it comes to health care delivery since it determines how health and illness is perceived by people from different cultures (Purnell & Faan, 2005). Head of Household
In Korea, the household is headed by men and they have the responsibility of making decisions in all family affairs (Kim, 2001). It would not be unusually for a husband to explain how his seek wife or child feels while the nurse is taking the history of the patient. However, t may not be appropriate because the sick person has the most accurate information about how they feel. In such a situation, a culturally competent nurse would be able to maneuver the situation and without disrespecting or irritating the clients, get the crucial information essential for offering quality health care.
Gender roles
Men are expected to take lead while the women are to be submissive (Kim & Wolpin, 2008; Kim, 2001). Such a belief may result in a male health care recipient undermining the services offered by a female healthcare practitioner. Therefore, it is the role of a culturally competent practitioner to apply skills in handling such as situation without taking offense and at the same time offer the right treatment or refer the client if need be.
Goals & priorities
Many Koreans regard themselves ...