Cultural Awareness

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Cultural Awareness
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Rationale

• Interact with people with different cultural
  backgrounds
• Understand
• Acceptable behavior
• Offensive gestures
• terms

3
Objectives

• Culture influences behavior
• Good communication techniques
• Common folk medicine practices
• Compare cultural differences
• Cultural beliefs affects health workers

4
Cultural Influences

• People
• Parents
• Friends
• Places
• Home
• School
• Experiences

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Prejudge

• Prejudge- people make a decision before having
  the facts.
• Age
• National
• Physical
• Religious
• Racial

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Control Prejudice

• Keep an open mind
• Look for additional information
• Read to be informed
• Look at resources before forming an opinion
• Evaluate information

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Close Contact Societies

• Latin America
• Africa Indonesia
• Southern Europe
• Mediterranean

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Distant Societies

• United States
• Canada
• Great Britain
• Northern Europe

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Different Meaning in Gestures

• American- O.K
• Asian- considered an insult. Used to call an
  animal

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Different Meaning in Gestures

• American- O.K. for Come up here
• Asian- Insult, only inferior people would use it.

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Different Meaning in Gestures

• American- O.K. for pointing at something or
  someone
• Asian- O.K. to point at something but not at
  someone.

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Different Meaning in Gestures

• American- Slight threat when making a point to
  someone
• Asian- Strong threat made by a person of a
  superior rank to an inferior.

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Conversation

• Speak clearly
• Speak so that they can hear you
• Do not raise your voice or yell
• Speak in moderate tones
• Pronounce the entire word

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Folk Medicine

• Is a collection of custom beliefs passed from
  generation to generation for treating pain or
  illness.

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Cultural Traditions
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Armenians

• Give mother a party one week after baby is born
• Prohibit-
• Menstruating woman could not attend church
• Take a shower
• Eat spicy food

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Cambodians

• Use herbs as medicine
• Use cupping for headaches
• Use coining for pain
• Color white sign of bad luck

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Chinese

• Use herbs as medicine
• Practice acupuncture and use herbs over puncture
  sites
• Use cupping with heated bamboo

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Hmong and Mien Tribes

• Perform spiritual ceremonies to please the
  spirits that cause illness
• Use herbal home remedies, including opium

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Central and South Americans

• Use herbal home remedies
• Menstruating woman cannot get their head wet
• Cannot eat cucumbers, oranges, pork and lard

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Native American Indians

• Use herbs and spies
• Use modern medical practices
• Some rely on a shaman (medicine man) to remove
  pain or evil spirits

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Created by

• Sylvia Flores
• November 3, 2003