Question

How culture can be a barrier in the system of healthcare delivery that affect the quality of healthcare communications. Give at least 3 other barriers and explain.

Answer 1

Culture influence on Health:

It can be defined as the practices, beliefs and values of a group of people. It also includes the roles, behaviors and attitudes that must be followed by the individual of the group. It also includes the spiritual and religious views that are expected and accepted by a group or a community. There are various bases of differences that are seen in different cultures. These differences also influence the healthcare beliefs. The beliefs on illness, health and treatment also vary with variation in culture. The use of folk medicine and home remedies is one of the most common elements that are seen in various cultures. The belief in the cause or illness varies with variation in culture.

Culture affects health in following ways:

Acceptance of treatment, including who should be told, how and when.

Amount of control individuals have in controlling diseases.

Perception of youth and aging is different in different cultures.

Willingness to discuss diseases symptoms with health care provider is different

Use of direct versus indirect communication

Culture affect on healthcare communications:

Culture can be a barrier in the healthcare as it hinders communication among the low literacy patients. Low literacy levels of the patients and the cultural barriers that make it hard for the health professionals to relate and integrate the modern healthcare and the culture of the people with there being a great limitation in English proficiency thus causing a threat to the effective health communication.

With the increasing number of patients with diverse cultural practices leading to a high number of low literacy patients. The various barriers that are depicted by the culture in the healthcare communication include the threat of demonstrating the healthcare providers to fully integrate health literacy, the effects of the individual and the collective experiences and the prioritization of the health needs.

Some of the examples of the barriers that are caused by culture towards the communication include the influences on the patient's health beliefs and the behaviors that are largely influenced by the perceptions of the locus of control and also the different roles that the physical and the mental illness and the basic roles of the individuals.