Below is a list of aspects of health/medicine that are influenced by culture:
Do you know what your cultural beliefs and attitudes are in relation to the aspects listed above?
It is easy to see other people's cultures but not always so easy to see your own. But your culture is just as ingrained as the culture of your client.
Also, there is a tendency among Australians to take a universalist approach to culture.
This means that many Australians think that every other culture in the world is pretty much the same as ours. We think the rules that apply in our culture are the same everywhere else in the world.
Consider this quote:
Culture is ... 'That part of a man's behaviour which he takes for granted, the part he doesn't think about, since he assumes it is universal or regards it as idiosyncratic.'
Hall, ET. 1959. The Silent Language. New York: Doubleday & Company.
Taken from MAQ handbook, 'An Introduction to Cross-Cultural Issues for Health Professionals'
There are cultural beliefs that are specific to Western culture – beliefs that other cultures would find strange and exotic. It is sometimes very difficult to 'see' your own culture.
For example, let's examine birth rituals. What would you say are the 'birth rituals' of your culture? Most Australians probably don't think they have any birth rituals.
Consider the following birth ritual of an Australian man and woman. It does not matter which cultural group they are from. Imagine that they are just friends of yours, who are about to have a baby.
To help you view the ritual objectively it has been written in an anthropological style where nothing is presumed.
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