Download CARING ABOUT CULTURE - GSS HEALTH CARE

CARING ABOUT
CULTURE
TPJ4M
CARING ABOUT
CULTURE
To care for someone, I must know who I am.
To care for someone, I must know who the
other is.
To care for someone, I must be able to
bridge the gap between myself and the
other.
Jean Watson (Cited by J. Anderson, RN, PhD, 1987)
CARING ABOUT
CULTURE
Race - refers to groups of people who share
similar features, such as
skin colour
hair colour and texture
facial characteristics
bone structure
Ex- Caucasians, Aboriginals, blacks,
Asians
CARING ABOUT
CULTURE
Ethnicity – is not necessarily a nationality, but,
refers to groups of people who share a common:
 history
 language
 geography
 national origin
 religion
 identity
 Ex. Chinese, Irish, Inuit
CARING ABOUT
CULTURE
 Culture refers to the learned values, beliefs, norms
and way of life that influence an individual’s thinking,
decisions and actions in certain ways.
 Culture is the characteristics of a group of people and
does not necessarily mean you are from a certain
country. EX. You could be an Asian (race) from Ireland
(ethnicity) who is Muslim (culture/religion)
 Culture includes:
 Language
 Values
 Beliefs
 habits
* Ways of life
* Rules of behaviour
* Traditions
 These characteristics are learned from living within the
group and influence a person’s attitudes and
behaviours
CARING ABOUT
CULTURE
Culture doesn’t just mean a language, religion or
country. Culture is everywhere, everyone has a
culture and each person’s culture is individual.
 Nurses
 Schools
 Police officers
 Workplace
 Cities
 Gangs
What other examples can you think of?
CARING ABOUT
CULTURE
EFFECT OF CULTURE
Culture affects many different things:
 communication
 family and social organization
 religion and worship
 health care practices and reactions to illness
As well as culture is influenced by many factors such as:
 gender
 race
 ethnicity
 life events
 religion
 age
and many more....
CARING ABOUT
CULTURE
CULTURE AFFECTS COMMUNICATION





touch
personal space
eye contact
facial expressions
silence
CULTURE AND THE FAMILY
 In Western culture the nuclear family is the most
common and care outside of the immediate family is
often left to others
 In Asian and Aboriginal cultures, extended families are
common, elder and sick family members are often
taken care of by the family
CARING ABOUT
CULTURE
CULTURE AND RELIGION
 You will care for clients that have different religious
beliefs than you. Some do not practice religion.
 You must always respect the clients beliefs, practices
and religious symbols/items.
 Never try to convert a client
CULTURE AND PERCEPTIONS
 Culture greatly affects how people view health care.
 Different cultures have different beliefs on the causes
and cures for illnesses. Be aware if your client is
taking any herbal medicine or practicing alternative
therapies.
CARING ABOUT
CULTURE
PROVIDING CULTURALLY SENSITIVE CARE
 It is extremely important as a health care worker in today’s society to
provide culturally sensitive care because each client is an individual
with their own culture
 Never stereotype a client based on ethnicity, religion or for any other
reason
 Stereotype – overly simple or exaggerated impression of a person or
group of people
 Stereotypes are often associated with prejudice
 Prejudice – an attitude that judges a person based on his/her
membership in a group
 Prejudice often leads to discrimination
 Discrimination – a behaviour that treats people unfairly based on
their group membership