Culture can be termed as a pattern of customs, ideas, and behaviors that are shared by a particular group of people in a given society (Jeffreys, 2015). Culture has vast influence on health. It affects beliefs about a certain disease, perceptions of health, health promotion approaches, how to express pain and illness, where and how patients seek medical help and the type of treatment that patients prefer.
In western industrialized societies like the United States, a disease is as result of natural scientific phenomena and medical treatments are considered as the best method to treat the disease (Jeffreys, 2015). There are other societies that believe that a supernatural phenomenon is the cause of the disease and, therefore, they would prefer to seek spiritual help to counter the powerful forces. Culture also influences how a given patient complies with treatment. The Asians in the United States value the extended family and, therefore, they prefer to do what the family wants regarding healthcare. Chinese patients are reluctant in discussing symptoms of depression or mental illness since they point to the lack of self-control resulting to guilt and shame (Villarruel et al., 2015). Amongst the Hispanic, the older people are highly respected and their opinion plays a major role in the decision the patient takes concerning medical treatment.
Delayed or lack of access to healthcare has the ability to impact the capacity of a person to reach their complete potential growth hence affecting their quality of life. This may be brought about by a lack of insurance coverage, the language barrier, the high cost of care, and lack of availability of health services (DuBard & Gizlice, 2008). Delayed access to health care can lead to adverse effects on a person's health or death. Notably, lack of access to health services can lead to the development of chronic illnesses which are associated with longer stays in hospital and at times deaths.
Conclusively, culture affects negatively access to healthcare since it shapes the perception of patients towards medical treatment and, therefore, there is need to train healthcare practitioners on culture competency to be in a position of addressing these challenges related to culture. Interventions need to be put in place that reduces delay or lack of access to healthcare such as reducing the cost of care and issuing insurance cover to all people to reduce health disparities.
References
DuBard, C. A., & Gizlice, Z. (2008). Language spoken and differences in health status, access to care, and receipt of preventive services among US Hispanics. American Journal of Public Health, 98(11), 2021-2028.
Jeffreys, M. R. (2015). Teaching cultural competence in nursing and health care: Inquiry, action, and innovation. Springer Publishing Company.
Villarruel, A., Aebersold, M., Tschannen, D., Pedroza, J., Dorantes, M., Gallego, O., & Davis, L. (2015). The Impact of Language and Culture on Healthcare Delivery.
