{"id":60,"date":"2019-09-18T15:26:33","date_gmt":"2019-09-18T19:26:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.ryerson.ca\/communicationnursing\/?post_type=chapter&#038;p=60"},"modified":"2025-09-24T10:12:08","modified_gmt":"2025-09-24T14:12:08","slug":"cultural-considerations","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/communicationnursing\/chapter\/cultural-considerations\/","title":{"raw":"Cultural Considerations","rendered":"Cultural Considerations"},"content":{"raw":"Therapeutic communication with clients and families requires attention to a person\u2019s <strong>culture<\/strong>. It is important to note that:\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li><strong>People are cultural beings<\/strong>. At a basic level, culture includes a person\u2019s beliefs and values. It refers to a person\u2019s practices or their way of life. It includes a person\u2019s ethnicity, spirituality, and religion, but it is much more than these components.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Culture is <strong>deeply embedded <\/strong>in each person and everything they do, including how they communicate and what is meaningful to them. It is essential to understand because it shapes the way we think, feel, and behave. It can determine what is considered taboo, appropriate, and meaningful.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Culture is <strong>socially transmissible<\/strong> (Kashima, 2019) meaning that it can be passed from one person\/generation to the next, making verbal and non-verbal communication a vital way to impart and share culture. Often, from an Indigenous perspective, culture is not merely the sum of a person\u2019s individual characteristics; \u201cit is an emergent property of individuals interacting with their natural and human environment\u201d (Kim, Park, &amp; Park, 2000, p. 67). As a result, culture is not static \u2013 cultural patterns are dynamic and shift throughout a person\u2019s life.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<strong>Cultural safety<\/strong> is an important component of therapeutic communication, because culture is so dynamic and deeply embedded in a person\u2019s way of being. In the context of therapeutic communication, you must examine your own culture and how it affects the ways you communicate with clients. This self-awareness is vital to provide culturally safe care to clients and facilitate [pb_glossary id=\"399\"]health equity[\/pb_glossary] (Curtis et al., 2019).\r\n\r\nA <strong>relational approach<\/strong> can facilitate communication that embraces cultural safety because it relies on your <strong>dialogical engagement<\/strong> with the client. In other words, nurses should suspend what they assume they know about culture, and let clients direct nurses with regard to how culture is meaningful to them. This approach encourages you to consider the relational interplay (Doane &amp; Varcoe, 2015) of communication, the client\u2019s culture, and your own culture. Like everyone, nurses are cultural beings with ethnocentric tendencies \u2013 you will tend to view the world and your client from your own cultural perspective. From a relational perspective, you must understand your own culture and your ethnocentric tendencies so that you are positioned to recognize and understand the client\u2019s culture.\r\n\r\nPart of a relational approach also involves positioning yourself as an inquirer who is in a \u201cspace of knowing\/not knowing, being curious, looking for what seems significant\u201d (Doane &amp; Varcoe, 2015, p. 6). See <strong>Table 2.3<\/strong> on how to develop yourself as an inquirer and understand the interplay of your culture and the client\u2019s culture.\r\n\r\n<strong>Table 2.3:<\/strong> Understanding culture.\r\n<table class=\"lines\" style=\"border-collapse: collapse;width: 100%\" border=\"0\">\r\n<tbody>\r\n<tr>\r\n<td class=\"shaded\" style=\"width: 50%\">\r\n<p class=\"no-indent\"><strong>Your Own Culture<\/strong><\/p>\r\n<\/td>\r\n<td class=\"shaded\" style=\"width: 50%\">\r\n<p class=\"no-indent\"><strong>The Client's Culture<\/strong><\/p>\r\n<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<tr>\r\n<td style=\"width: 50%\">\r\n<p class=\"no-indent\">How do you define your culture?<\/p>\r\n<p class=\"no-indent\">What does a typical day involve for you?<\/p>\r\n<p class=\"no-indent\">How does your culture affect your health and illness?<\/p>\r\n<p class=\"no-indent\">What are your own biases, attitudes, prejudices that may affect how you care for and communicate with the client?<\/p>\r\n<p class=\"no-indent\">If you were in the client\u2019s shoes, what would be important for you to share with your nurse about your culture so that they could better care for you?<\/p>\r\n<\/td>\r\n<td style=\"width: 50%;vertical-align: top\">\r\n<p class=\"no-indent\">Tell me about your culture.<\/p>\r\n<p class=\"no-indent\">Tell me about a typical day for you.<\/p>\r\n<p class=\"no-indent\">Tell me about what is important to know about your culture in order to care for you best.<\/p>\r\n<p class=\"no-indent\">How can I provide care to you that is culturally safe?<\/p>\r\n<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<\/tbody>\r\n<\/table>\r\n<h2>Activity: Check Your Understanding<\/h2>\r\n[h5p id=\"21\"]\r\n\r\n&nbsp;","rendered":"<p>Therapeutic communication with clients and families requires attention to a person\u2019s <strong>culture<\/strong>. It is important to note that:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>People are cultural beings<\/strong>. At a basic level, culture includes a person\u2019s beliefs and values. It refers to a person\u2019s practices or their way of life. It includes a person\u2019s ethnicity, spirituality, and religion, but it is much more than these components.<\/li>\n<li>Culture is <strong>deeply embedded <\/strong>in each person and everything they do, including how they communicate and what is meaningful to them. It is essential to understand because it shapes the way we think, feel, and behave. It can determine what is considered taboo, appropriate, and meaningful.<\/li>\n<li>Culture is <strong>socially transmissible<\/strong> (Kashima, 2019) meaning that it can be passed from one person\/generation to the next, making verbal and non-verbal communication a vital way to impart and share culture. Often, from an Indigenous perspective, culture is not merely the sum of a person\u2019s individual characteristics; \u201cit is an emergent property of individuals interacting with their natural and human environment\u201d (Kim, Park, &amp; Park, 2000, p. 67). As a result, culture is not static \u2013 cultural patterns are dynamic and shift throughout a person\u2019s life.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Cultural safety<\/strong> is an important component of therapeutic communication, because culture is so dynamic and deeply embedded in a person\u2019s way of being. In the context of therapeutic communication, you must examine your own culture and how it affects the ways you communicate with clients. This self-awareness is vital to provide culturally safe care to clients and facilitate <button class=\"glossary-term\" aria-describedby=\"60-399\">health equity<\/button> (Curtis et al., 2019).<\/p>\n<p>A <strong>relational approach<\/strong> can facilitate communication that embraces cultural safety because it relies on your <strong>dialogical engagement<\/strong> with the client. In other words, nurses should suspend what they assume they know about culture, and let clients direct nurses with regard to how culture is meaningful to them. This approach encourages you to consider the relational interplay (Doane &amp; Varcoe, 2015) of communication, the client\u2019s culture, and your own culture. Like everyone, nurses are cultural beings with ethnocentric tendencies \u2013 you will tend to view the world and your client from your own cultural perspective. From a relational perspective, you must understand your own culture and your ethnocentric tendencies so that you are positioned to recognize and understand the client\u2019s culture.<\/p>\n<p>Part of a relational approach also involves positioning yourself as an inquirer who is in a \u201cspace of knowing\/not knowing, being curious, looking for what seems significant\u201d (Doane &amp; Varcoe, 2015, p. 6). See <strong>Table 2.3<\/strong> on how to develop yourself as an inquirer and understand the interplay of your culture and the client\u2019s culture.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Table 2.3:<\/strong> Understanding culture.<\/p>\n<table class=\"lines\" style=\"border-collapse: collapse;width: 100%\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td class=\"shaded\" style=\"width: 50%\">\n<p class=\"no-indent\"><strong>Your Own Culture<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"shaded\" style=\"width: 50%\">\n<p class=\"no-indent\"><strong>The Client&#8217;s Culture<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"width: 50%\">\n<p class=\"no-indent\">How do you define your culture?<\/p>\n<p class=\"no-indent\">What does a typical day involve for you?<\/p>\n<p class=\"no-indent\">How does your culture affect your health and illness?<\/p>\n<p class=\"no-indent\">What are your own biases, attitudes, prejudices that may affect how you care for and communicate with the client?<\/p>\n<p class=\"no-indent\">If you were in the client\u2019s shoes, what would be important for you to share with your nurse about your culture so that they could better care for you?<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td style=\"width: 50%;vertical-align: top\">\n<p class=\"no-indent\">Tell me about your culture.<\/p>\n<p class=\"no-indent\">Tell me about a typical day for you.<\/p>\n<p class=\"no-indent\">Tell me about what is important to know about your culture in order to care for you best.<\/p>\n<p class=\"no-indent\">How can I provide care to you that is culturally safe?<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<h2>Activity: Check Your Understanding<\/h2>\n<div id=\"h5p-21\">\n<div class=\"h5p-iframe-wrapper\"><iframe id=\"h5p-iframe-21\" class=\"h5p-iframe\" data-content-id=\"21\" style=\"height:1px\" src=\"about:blank\" frameBorder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" title=\"Cultural Safety\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div class=\"glossary\"><div class=\"glossary__tooltip\" id=\"60-399\" hidden><p>Fair opportunity to reach one\u2019s fullest health potential.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"author":34,"menu_order":11,"template":"","meta":{"pb_show_title":"on","pb_short_title":"","pb_subtitle":"","pb_authors":[],"pb_section_license":""},"chapter-type":[],"contributor":[],"license":[],"class_list":["post-60","chapter","type-chapter","status-publish","hentry"],"part":38,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/communicationnursing\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/60","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/communicationnursing\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/communicationnursing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/chapter"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/communicationnursing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/34"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/communicationnursing\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/60\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":804,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/communicationnursing\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/60\/revisions\/804"}],"part":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/communicationnursing\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/parts\/38"}],"metadata":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/communicationnursing\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/60\/metadata\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/communicationnursing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=60"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"chapter-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/communicationnursing\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapter-type?post=60"},{"taxonomy":"contributor","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/communicationnursing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/contributor?post=60"},{"taxonomy":"license","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/communicationnursing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/license?post=60"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}