Patient-Centered Approach to Care Must Account for Cultural Sensitivity
Boston Globe Opinion Piece by Wayne Lowell, President & CEO of Senior Whole Health
Published March 24, 2016
IKE SWETLITZ describes a movement that has the potential to revolutionize how the health care profession looks at and treats different races (“New lessons about race and health,” Stat, March 14). But we should consider going even further by extending this new approach to ethnicity while avoiding both biological and cultural stereotypes.
Health care is already moving in the direction of individualized care. A patient assessment should look beyond race, gender, and even age, and include such health determinants as community supports, the safety of the patient’s neighborhood, and the patient’s family structure. When possible, the assessment should be conducted by a care worker with the same ethnicity as the patient, and the individualized care plan should be delivered in a culturally sensitive way. This would lead to better adherence by the patient.
Published March 24, 2016
IKE SWETLITZ describes a movement that has the potential to revolutionize how the health care profession looks at and treats different races (“New lessons about race and health,” Stat, March 14). But we should consider going even further by extending this new approach to ethnicity while avoiding both biological and cultural stereotypes.
Health care is already moving in the direction of individualized care. A patient assessment should look beyond race, gender, and even age, and include such health determinants as community supports, the safety of the patient’s neighborhood, and the patient’s family structure. When possible, the assessment should be conducted by a care worker with the same ethnicity as the patient, and the individualized care plan should be delivered in a culturally sensitive way. This would lead to better adherence by the patient.