Cultural Approaches to Health Communication

Authors

  • Heather J. Carmack University of Alabama Department of Communication Studies

Keywords:

, health communication, cultural competence, culture and health, Western medicine, ethnocultural health

Abstract

This face-to-face upper division course examines the role of culture in health communication and decision-making. Students learn about the most popular theories and concepts related to this topic, including cultural health competence, the Culture-Centered Approach (CCA), and the PEN-3 model of cultural competence, as well as health and healing issues specific to different cultural groups. Students also learn about the tensions between Western biomedical approaches to health and ethnocultural approaches to health. Students engage with case studies and videos related to specific topics, including Deaf culture and Appalachian health culture. Students complete a number of assignments that ask them to demonstrate intellectual rigor, such as take-home exams and analysis papers, as well as assignments which can be used in a writing or work portfolio, including health facts sheets, podcasts, and position papers.

Author Biography

Heather J. Carmack, University of Alabama Department of Communication Studies

Heather J. Carmack (PhD, Ohio University) is an Associate Professor of Health Communication in the Department of Communication Studies at the University of Alabama.

References

Ahmed, R., & Bates, B. R. (2007). Gender differences in patients’ perceptions of physicians’ cultural competence in health care interactions. Women’s Health & Urban Life, 6(2), 58-80. Retrieved from http://www.utsc.utoronto.ca/~womenshealth/womenshealth/Home.html

Ahmed, R., & Bates, B. R. (2010). Assessing the relationship between patients’ ethnocentric views and patients’ perceptions of physicians’ cultural competence in health care interactions. Intercultural Communication Studies, 19(2), 111-127. Retrieved from http://web.uri.edu/iaics/iaics-journal/

Ahmed, R., & Bates, B. R. (2012). Development of scales to assess patients’ perception of physician cultural competence in health care interactions. Journal of Transcultural Nursing, 23, 287-296.

Ahmed, R., Bates, B. R., & Romina, S. M. (2016). Assessing the influence of patients’ perceptions of providers’ cultural competence on patient satisfaction in an Appalachian Ohio context. Howard Journal of Communications, 27(4), 403-421. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10646175.2016.1211569

Betancourt, J. R. (2004). Becoming a physician: Cultural competence? Marginal or mainstream movement? New England Journal of Medicine, 351, 953-955. Retrieved from http://www.nejm.org/

Dutta, M. J. (2008). Communicating health: A culture-centered approach. Cambridge: Polity.

Spector, R. E. (2012). Cultural diversity in health and illness (8th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.

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Published

2018-07-02

Issue

Vol. 7 No. 1 (2018): Spring

Section

Syllabi

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