Provides information on various cultural and ethnica groups to sensitize health providers to cultural variations within each group it describes.
Notes:
Includes bibliographical references. --- Review, Network Spring 2006: People have various beliefs about the transitions that accompany health, illness, birth and death—beliefs that are influenced by such things as culture and age. Therefore, providing appropriate, cross-cultural health care is critically important. The purpose of this book is to sensitize health care providers to cultural variations, to encourage asking questions and to stimulate learning about how patients identify with and express their cultural background. By itself, information about a specific cultural or ethnic group does not necessarily make for culturally appropriate care, but neither can good care be provided in the absence of such information. As the authors believe, all health care providers need to know something about their patients’ sociocultural backgrounds because it is easy to inadvertently insult a patient or family when clinicians act only on what they believe is correct (which is usually based only on their own values and/or education). While the information in this book draws upon US statistical data, the underlying principles and information will be of use to a Canadian audience.
