Literacy, Health Literacy & Family Culture: One Woman Refugee’s Story of Seeking Health Care In Denver

Posted by on Apr 18, 2011 in Blog, Special Topics | 1 comment   If your American family story is like mine… your ancestors were probably voluntary immigrants to this country, not refugees. My maternal grandfather came over from Poland at the turn of the last century, knowing eight languages, but not one of them English. He was thirteen, alone, with just a note hung around his neck with a destination written on it. In honor of his memory, I wanted...
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Eliciting Quality Patient Responses in Cross-Cultural Care

Posted by on Mar 23, 2011 in Blog, Key Concepts in Cross-Cultural Communications, Non-English Speaking Patients, Patient Compliance, Special Topics, Talking to Patients | 0 comments The cultural worlds created by humans are not controlled by universal laws of science; each culture operates according to its own internal dynamic. Even members of a given culture acquire most of what they know in the process of growing up. Relating to other people isn’t learned the way, for example, disease theory is learned. So culture can’t be distilled into learned facts and doctors...
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How Culture Affects Expectations of Physicians

Posted by on Nov 17, 2010 in Cultural Health Beliefs + Behaviors, Special Topics | 0 comments In the process of developing culturally responsive care, it is important to consider the ways in which patients’ health beliefs and behaviors are likely to differ from their provider’s if the two come from different cultural backgrounds. In this cross-cultural communications article we will take a look at one area that is commonly problematic – patients’ expectations of...
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Clinical Pediatrics in the Mexican Immigrant Community

Posted by on Nov 3, 2010 in Culture-Specific Topics, Latino Cultures, Special Topics | 0 comments by Janine Young, MD www.contemporarypediatrics.com Vol. 26, No. 2— The US continues to be a country of immigrants. As of 2006, roughly 37.5 million immigrants (documented and undocumented) were living in the US, accounting for 12.5% of the total population. Of these, 30% were from Mexico.1 These new immigrant families bring with them their language, culture, and religious beliefs. And they...
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Observing Ramadan

Posted by on Nov 3, 2010 in Special Topics | 0 comments Ramadan, the holiest month of the year for Muslims around the world, occurs during the ninth month of the Islamic calendar. During this holy month, Muslims from all continents unite in a period of community-wide fasting and spiritual reflection. The annual fast of Ramadan is considered one of the five “pillars” of Islam. Muslims who are physically able are required to fast each day of...
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