Health and Illness in Diverse Cultures

In the Think Cultural Health case study video “Cultural and Religious Beliefs,” the patient in question, Nardira Ansari, is a Muslim woman who believes in the skill of Western medicine but who also strongly believes in her right to uphold her cultural heritage, specifically, that she should not have to remove her hijab in the presence of a man not her husband (HHS, 2017). The doctor filling in is not supportive or respectful of this belief, though her own doctor is, and when her own doctor arrives, willingly completes the appointment, respecting her beliefs and offering to teach the fill in doctor about those beliefs, the implication being that, by doing so, he will have the knowledge so that he will not engage in culturally insensitive behaviors with another patient (HHS, 2017). Health and Illness in Diverse Cultures

The culture of an individual is ingrained into the individual, and the patient should be treated with care and respect by clinical staff; if the clinician wishes to command the respect of the patient, requiring that the individual adhere to the directions provided by the clinician, the clinician should grant the patient that same care and respect regarding his or her lifestyle and preferences (Spector, 2002). Healthcare professionals are required to treat patients with dignity and respect, neither of which can be given if the patient’s cultural beliefs are dismissed by the treating clinician (Holland, 2017). Researchers have shown that adopting a culturally conscious healthcare model has worked to provide patients with the care and support that they need in order to create a beneficial healthcare relationship and that attention to the cultural beliefs of the individual has worked to in turn boost the patient’s overall health status (Adames, Chavez-Duenas, Fuentes, Salas, & Perez-Chavez, 2014). Health and Illness in Diverse Cultures