Lecture Notes Unit 4:
Wellness
November 15th: defense mechanisms, cross cultural behavior
All people use defense mechanisms to help them feel more comfortable and to rationalize their behavior
Defense mechanisms = mental devises that help people cope with various situations
Rationalization = finding a good reason to replace the real reason for a behavior
Compensation = substituting one goal for another
Projection = placing the blame for your actions on someone or something else because you cannot accept
responsibility
Sublimation = redirecting feelings towards a constructive objective
Identification = idolizing someone you would like to be
Idolizing = loving to excess
Hostility = unfriendliness
Aggressiveness = tendency to start fights without reason
Health care workers interact with people from many cultural backgrounds
It is important to know culturally acceptable and effective gestures, terms, and behaviors
Our understanding and opinions of different cultures develops throughout our lives
Culture includes a shared background and usually shared experiences
The most common experiences shared by groups are:
Language, communication style, belief system, customs, attitudes, perceptions, and values
Some of these are visible, some are hidden
There is not a right or wrong when comparing cultures, only different
Cultural diversity strengthens society and improves sense of openness
Prejudice = to decide or make a decision about a person based on perceived cultural facts
Prejudices:
Age, national, physical, mental, religious, racial
Culture = relates to the behaviors, beliefs, and actions of a particular social, ethnic, or age group
Ethnicity = refers to identity with or membership in a particular racial, national, or cultural group, and
observance of that groups customs, beliefs, and language
6 main ethnic groups in the U.S.: African Americans, Asian American, European American, Hispanic
American, Middle Eastern/Arab American, and Native American
Race = a human population that is considered distinct based on physical characteristics, such as white, black, or
Latino
In a ‘melting pot’ country we see a lot of cultural assimilation
Acculturation = the exchange of cultural features that results when groups come into continuous firsthand
contact
Health care professionals must be sensitive to all cultural backgrounds and always act in the best interest of the
patient.
i.e. Muslim women may not be examined by male members of the medical community
Catholic doctors ethically should refer women seeking an abortion
November 20th: gestures, body language, personal space
Personal space and touching – defined differently in different cultures, close-contact to distant-contact, touching
can be misunderstood, some south Asian cultures believe that a person’s spirit is on the head so touching the
head is an insult.
CLOSE CONTACT:
Africa
Indonesia
Latin America
Hispanic Americans
Mediterranean
Southern Europe
French
Greet by kissing on cheeks
DISTANT CONTACT:
Canada
Great Britain
Northern Europe
U.S.
Native Americans
Middle Eastern
Arabic
Asian American
Greet with handshake, hugs for close friends and relatives
Greetings – important in all cultures, the way it is given and received often determines how positive or negative
the meeting is
GREETING GUIDELINES:
Anglo American – shakes hand if desired
Latin American – shake hands or hugs
Cambodian or Laotian – do not shake hands, put hands together at different levels, equal = hands at chest, older
or superior person or stranger = hands at chin, relative or teacher = hands at nose
Vietnamese – salute by joining both hands and moving them against the chest
Hmong (interior mountains of SE Asia peninsula) – bow head or shake hands
Hand gestures – some mean different things in different cultures
Wiggling finger is appropriate to call a person over in the U.S. – rude in many other cultures
Sideways Pointing at a thing is ok in Asia, but not at a person, confrontational, in America its ok for person or
thing
Closed fist upright point – slight threat in America, strong threat made by superior in Asia (never used on girl)
Eye contact – sometimes means a person is listening, sincere, or honest, or hostile or disrespectful
EYE CONTACT:
Anglo American – important, interest, honesty, listening
African American – not as important, being in same room indicates attentiveness
Navajo – direct eye contact avoided, peripheral vision used, direct stares are considered hostile or a way to
scold children
Japanese, SE Asian, Hispanic – eye contact is avoided as a form of respect
Family organization – important in all cultures, nuclear families, extended families, patriarchal or matriarchal
Asia – mostly patriarchal, extended, family needs more important than individual needs
November 27th: spirituality and religion in medicine
Folk medicine is a collection of traditional beliefs and customs for treating pain or illness
Mostly Western (biomedical) medicine in the U.S.- important to learn about your client’s culture though
Common folk medicine practices from various cultures:
Armenians:
give mother a party 1 wk after baby is born, she is served bread, which she dips in a paste of margarine sugar
and flour. Celebration of birth of child
prohibit menstruating women from going to church, taking a shower, or eating spicy foods
Asians:
Think health is a balance of yin and yang
Use treatments like acupuncture and herbal remedies
Believe pain must be endured silently
Cambodians:
Use herbs as medicine
Use cupping for headache
Use coining for pain
Consider the color white to be a sign of bad luck
Central and South Americans:
Use herbal home remedies
Teach a menstruating woman not to get her head wet, and to avoid eating cucumbers, lemons, oranges, pork,
lard, and deer meat
Chinese:
Use herbs as medicine
Practice acupuncture
Use cupping with heated bamboo
Europeans:
Believe that illness is caused by outside source
Focus on treatment with medicine, surgery, diet, and exercise
Hispanics:
Believe that health is a reward from God
Believe in good luck
Use heat and cold remedies to restore balance
Rely on prayers and massage
Hmong and Mien Tribes:
Perform spiritual ceremonies to please the spirits that cause illness
Use herbal home remedies including opium
Iranians:
Believe that poor health is predetermined (fatalism)
Use herbs, foods, rituals, and magic formulas for healing
Believe the ‘evil eye’ causes sudden illness
When Islamic, require washing of the face and hands before prayer
Require periodic baths for cleansing
Koreans:
Practice alchemy
Use acupuncture
Go to hot springs for baths and rituals and massage
Use energy and brain stimulants
Middle Easterners:
Believe that health is spiritual
Cleanliness is essential
Males dominate and make decisions on health care
Believe in spiritual causes of illness like the ‘evil eye’
Native Americans:
Use herbs and spices
Use modern medical practices
Some rely on a healer/shaman to remove pain and evil spirits
Believe that health is harmony with nature
Believe that tolerance of pain signifies power and strength
Believe that illness is caused by supernatural forces and evil spirits
South Africans:
Believe in maintaining harmony of mind, body, and spirit
Believe the causes of ill health are spirits, demons, or punishment from God
Use prayer or religious rituals as treatment
Vietnamese:
Commonly use herbal medicine
Use cupping
Use acupuncture
Spirituality
Religious
Agnostic
Atheistic
November 28th: communication
Or work day for Folk Medicine Research Project.