The Importance of Culture throughout All of Life and Beyond

Abstract

Culture is a critical component of what shapes human experience throughout life. Unfortunately, at the end of life cultural considerations often take a back seat to considerations related to disease processes and functional ability. This article describes why culture is so vital at all stages of life. It also attempts to provide insight into how death, dying, grief, and loss are viewed from a cross-cultural perspective with a focus on African Americans. It presents practice implications for health care professionals.

Illness-Related Hopelessness in Advanced Cancer: Influence of Anxiety, Depression, and Preparatory Grief

“…Culture shapes human experience throughout life (Thomas, 2001). The way someone reacts to illness depends on, among other factors, the cultural context where he or she lives, the ways by which he or she relates to other individuals, and the attributes he or she associates to life and death (Mystakidou, Tsilika, Parpa, Katsouda, & Vlahos, 2004-2005.…”

A history of patient education by health professionals in Europe and North America: From authority to shared decision making education

“…This is due to the fact that experiences with illness (such as fear, anxiety or interpretation of pain and other complaints) can be determined by cultural beliefs [50]. Furthermore, patients more strongly link with these beliefs when confronted with consequences of their illness [51]. Therefore, in order to successfully engage in patient education activities, health care providers should make sure that these activities are in line with the individual patient and family's cultural values [52].…”

Physician-Perceived Contradictions in End-of-Life Communication: Toward a Self-Report Measurement Scale

“…A mere investigation of the role of culture in terms of truth-telling in end-of-life care is limited in scope. Communication between health care professionals, patients, and families is deeply influenced by social norms, moral values, and the meaning of health and illness (Mitchell, 1998;Thomas, 2001). Therefore, physicians and patients may have different visions of the end of life depending on their country, culture, religion, and personal characteristics that will inevitably influence their perceptions of end-of-life care.…”

“…These examples illustrate that culture needs to be a variable in any competence assessments of end-of-life care, particularly in medical care settings (such as in the United States) where providers typically interact with ethnically diverse patients who do not necessarily share their perceptions of effective end-of-life care (Blank, 2011;Cox & Monk, 1993;Reese et al, 1999;Thomas, 2001). Future studies are needed to enhance our current understanding of the Downloaded by [New York University] at 04:31 27 May 2015 role of culture in this contextual setting, beyond the limited topic of truth-telling practices.…”