Culture can be defined by group membership, such as racial, ethnic, linguistic, or geographical

groups, or as a collection of beliefs, values, customs, ways of thinking, communicating, and

behaving specific to a group. Cultural behaviors have important implications for human health.
Culture, a socially transmitted system of shared knowledge, beliefs and/or practices that varies
across groups, and individuals within those groups, has been a critical mode of adaptation
throughout the history of our species. Healthcare providers can improve individual outcomes by
thoroughly factoring culture as part of understanding an individual’s health and treating their
illnesses.
1. Family and Community
Everyone retains certain beliefs as a result of family and community influences, especially in
other countries. For example, Asians and Pacific Islanders rely heavily on their extended family.
Oftentimes, the honor and interests of the family are more important than the interests of the
individual. Understanding situations like this when administering health care can be very helpful
in providing proper treatment.

2. Religion
For the truly zealous, religion is not just a hobby. It’s a way of life, and that can add barriers to
typical treatments. The African apostolic churches s, for example, abstain from certain foods
because of their religion, and therefore there will be dietary preferences to consider when
outlining any sort of nutritional plan. Others may believe that their illness is an act of God and
therefore refuse treatment.

3. Perspectives on Death
This is not a question about life after death or funeral rituals, but if doctors truly want to connect
with and help patients, they will benefit from knowing the patients’ and families’ perspectives on
dying. They will need to know the proper ways to handle end of life care and make the transition
as comfortable as possible.

4. Gender Roles
Different genders will often have different beliefs regarding medical treatment. Women, for
example, may request less invasive treatments to make them more comfortable. Likewise, gender
roles within relationships can often play a role in hindering treatment. One partner in the
relationship may be dominant and believe it’s his/her job to make all of the decisions.

5. Health Beliefs
Cultures often have different beliefs regarding health care in general. Caucasians generally have
a low pain tolerance compared to other ethnicities and tend to have higher expectations regarding
their physical recovery and expectations of receiving a prescription. On the other hand, those
coming from a hispanic background desire quick relief, but are often less willing to trust
American remedies.

6. Beliefs about Medication

As mentioned above, Caucasians have a lot of faith in prescription medication and modern
treatments. Therefore, they are much more likely to take their medications as prescribed. Others
cultural groups, such as African Americans and Native Americans, may doubt the need for such
medication and stop taking it prematurely.

7. Responses to Medications
Perhaps one of the most important cultural influences has to do with the way a patient responds
physically to medication. Some people from backgrounds other than Caucasian may not
metabolize the medication correctly, causing serious complications in treatment. Caucasian
patients generally tend to handle a wider variety of medications than those of other cultures do.

Broaching these subjects with your patients may be uncomfortable to begin with, but it may be
the thing that saves your patient’s life and your career.
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