 And why is it important?
Quite simply, health care services that are respectful of and responsive to the health beliefs and practices, and cultural and linguistic needs of diverse patient populations.
Culture and language may influence:
- health, healing, and wellness belief systems;
- how illness, disease, and their causes are perceived; both by the patient/consumer and the
- the behaviors of patients/consumers who are seeking health care and their attitudes toward health care providers;
- as well as the delivery of services by the provider who looks at the world through his or her own limited set of values, which can compromise access for patients from other cultures.
The increasing population growth of racial and ethnic communities and linguistic groups, each with its own cultural traits and health profiles, presents a challenge to the health care delivery service industry in this country. The provider and the patient each bring their individual learned patterns of language and culture to the health care experience which must be transcended to achieve equal access and quality health care.
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