CULTURAL DIFFERENCES OF HEALTH CARE

CULTURAL DIFFERENCES OF HEALTH CARE

by Matt Stone QHCusa 2010

Moody (2010) cites, “Ethnic minorities currently compose approximately one third of the population of the United States. The U.S. model of health care, which values autonomy in medical decision making, is not easily applied to members of some racial or ethnic groups. Cultural factors strongly influence patients' reactions to serious illness and decisions about end-of-life care.
Research has identified three basic dimensions in end-of-life treatment that vary culturally: communication of “bad news”; locus of decision making; and attitudes toward advance directives and end-of-life care.

Although many patients in the United States value autonomy, other cultures emphasize beneficence. In the United States, legal documents such as advance directives and durable powers of attorney are strategies to prolong autonomy in situations in which patients can no longer represent themselves. Other cultures, however, de-emphasize autonomy, perceiving it as isolating rather than empowering. These non-Western cultures believe that communities and families, not individuals alone, are affected by life-threatening illnesses and the accompanying medical decisions.

Cultures valuing non maleficence (doing no harm) protect patients from the emotional and physical harm caused by directly addressing death and end-of-life care. Many Asian and Native American cultures value beneficence (physicians' obligation to promote patient welfare) by encouraging patient hope, even in the face of terminal illness.”