Cultural competence and metaphor in mental healthcare interactions: A linguistic perspective

Magaña, Dalia

doi:10.1016/j.pec.2019.06.010

Cited by 15 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 31 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Patients benefit when providers are culturally and linguistically competent (Kanter et al, 2009;Magaña, 2019;Vargas Bustamante et al, 2019). Language concordant providers promote confidence in asking questions, trust, and lower perception of discrimination (Detz et al, 2014).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Local Voices on Health Care Communication Issues and Insights on Latino Cultural Constructs

Magaña

2020

Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Structural issues in the health care delivery system can disproportionately affect language minority patients who require interpretation services. This qualitative study addresses the issues Spanish-speaking Latinos face in obtaining health care by examining the experiences of 25 Spanish speakers in California’s Central Valley, a medically underserved area. The following barriers to communication emerged in the findings: time-restricted interactions, unfriendly encounters, discrimination, issues in interpreting, miscommunication, and opposition to providers. We report participants’ recommendations for improving health care communication, including the need for friendlier and more attentive services, more Spanish-speaking providers, and more time with providers. We argue that these recommendations are in line with Latino cultural constructs: confianza (trust), familismo (family-orientation), personalismo (friendliness), respeto (respect), and simpatía (kindness). This study raises awareness about how language use and intercultural competence affect health care communication by centering the voices of Spanish speakers across numerous contextualized examples.

show abstract

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Local Voices on Health Care Communication Issues and Insights on Latino Cultural Constructs

Magaña

2020

Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Western medicine frequently uses metaphors relating to the body as a machine, battles against illness, and the body or mind as a communication system, whereas Chinese medicine may refer to flow/blockage, balance/imbalance, and refer to elements of wood, fire, earth, metal, and water (Hanne, 2015). In another example, a metaphor analysis of doctor-client communication regarding mental health found that using English-language directional metaphors referring to symptoms of mania or depression as up or down, or metaphors relating to the body as a container by referring to depression as emptiness, caused confusion for Spanish speakers (Magaña, 2019). Joseph et al, (2017) similarly studied mismatches between genetic counselor communication and patient understanding/needs and found that while genetic counselors frequently used analogies such as explaining sequencing as a spellcheck, sometimes there was no cultural or linguistic equivalent, causing confusion.…”

Section: Cons Idering Me Taphor S About G Ene Tic S At Cultur Al and So Cie Tal Le Vel Smentioning

confidence: 99%

Metaphors and why these are important in all aspects of genetic counseling

Sexton

James

2021

Journal of Genetic Counseling

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Metaphors are figures of speech used extremely frequently in everyday language, thoughts, and actions (Lakoff & Johnson, 1980).Metaphors appear simple but are fundamental schemata allowing expression and processing of complex emotions and information.Metaphorical language, including simile as a more explicit form, is recognized as having an important role in communication, learning, and understanding the world (Lakoff & Johnson, 1980;Ricoeur, 2003).Although metaphor is so embedded in language and thinking that we are often unaware of its impact, use of metaphor is recognized as a valuable tool in research, theory, and practice in related fields of psychotherapy, education, linguistics, cancer care, palliative care, pain

show abstract

“…In working with abstract concepts (such as cancer experience), objectifying them aids people's understanding, as it enables them to make sense of the phenomenon in familiar terms. This strategy is also reported to support patients with mental health illnesses in talking about it (Magaña, 2019a).…”

Section: Cancer Is An Objectmentioning

confidence: 99%

The OBJECT Metaphor in the Conceptualisation of Cancer in Malay Women’s Narratives

Jamil

Rashid

Kasim

2019

Int. J. Appl. Linguist. Engl. Lit.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Our conceptualisation of life-threatening illness such as cancer is said to be highly metaphorised and often grounded in some fundamental contrastive categories of experience in the physical environment. As such, some studies have revealed the use of different metaphors, such as WAR, JOURNEY and GAME in cancer related discourse. Related to this, the current paper seeks to examine the use of the OBJECT metaphor in Malay women’s narratives on cancer, utilising the framework of Conceptual Metaphor Theory (CMT) as propounded by Lakoff and Johnson (1980). This dimension of metaphor has not been explored before among Malay women specifically on cancer. It illustrates some examples of the relevant metaphorical expressions and discusses how the source domain OBJECT structures the women’s thinking of cancer. Findings of the study indicate that conceiving cancer in terms of a heavy object, an unwanted object, and as a gift provides insights into the women’s reality in coping with this life-threatening illness. The OBJECT metaphor structured in the women’s narratives highlights not only their conception of the disease, but also their expectation and optimism in coping with the illness. Findings of the study could be useful for health professionals and caretakers in that a more effective communication could occur between them and cancer patients, which, in turn, could lead to a better understanding of cancer patients’ experiences.

show abstract

Cultural competence and metaphor in mental healthcare interactions: A linguistic perspective

Cited by 15 publications

References 31 publications

Local Voices on Health Care Communication Issues and Insights on Latino Cultural Constructs

Local Voices on Health Care Communication Issues and Insights on Latino Cultural Constructs

Metaphors and why these are important in all aspects of genetic counseling

The OBJECT Metaphor in the Conceptualisation of Cancer in Malay Women’s Narratives

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About