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. Socioeconomic status, gender, religion and moral values all play into how individuals experience, conceptualize and react to their world, and therefore general understandings of cultural groups are insufficient for grasping a patient’s unique experience with health and illnesses. Additionally, structural inequalities and political economy play a critical, and often overlooked, role in health and disease. Understanding how behaviors are rooted in an individual’s unique cultural experience and as a response to social pressures can better equip medical professionals with the context, skills and empathy necessary for holistic care.
Healthcare providers can improve individual outcomes by thoroughly factoring in life experiences as part of understanding an individual’s health and treating their illnesses. The use of a ‘mini-ethnography’ can help healthcare providers understand how identity, interpretation of illness and the moral values of patients factor into building a trusting relationship that considers the patient’s life experiences into treatment plans. (author abstract)
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