Cultural Considerations

Cultural Considerations

The six principles of cross-cultural communication are similarities, differences, diversity, empathy, acknowledgement and respect. Each one has its place in the medical field of communication with patients and staff. People should take into consideration all of them when communicating with people from other backgrounds, cultures, and languages. The medical field should take the time to understand one another because mistakes made by barriers can be harmful to the patient and the care that they receive.

Health care providers may find it difficult to relay information to a patient if they do not speak the same language. Language barriers can be a problem because information may get lost in the translation. Everybody has their background and what shapes them into who they are. “We female physicians, we have the same communication and cultural problems with Somali women as our colleague male physicians. (Degni, Suominen, El Ansari, & Vehvilainenjulkunen, 2012).” It does not matter if you are male or female language barriers can be a problem for anybody. Some cultural like Somali women do not like to speak about birth control or female anatomy. These women often use their children as interpreters and receive the wrong information because the child does not understand medical language.

Languages are not the only thing that can create barriers between people, but their views of life as well. “The cultural differences between the dominant Anglo-Celtic group and Indigenous Australians are significant, especially in relation to death and dying. (McGrath, Oglivie, Rayner, Holewa, Patton, 2005)”. The Indigenous Australians believe in their whole family being involved in the medical process while others only have a spouse, friend or family member with them. We should respect all cultures and make exceptions for people beliefs regardless of our own.

People may speak the same languages, but still have a hard time communicating what they...