MCCCD Program Description

Culture and Health

Course: HCR230

First Term: 2002 Fall

Lecture 3 Credit(s) 3 Period(s) 3 Load
Subject Type: Academic
Load Formula: S

Description: Relation between cultures of diverse groups and health/illness. Emphasis on cross-cultural communication, including awareness of own cultural influences and indigenous and complementary healing practices

MCCCD Official Course Competencies
1. Evaluate the importance of the role culture plays in determining how different people perceive and shape their world. (I, XII) 2. Identify cultural influences on one`s own beliefs and values. (II, IX, XII) 3. Describe the impact of U.S. and non-U.S. cultural definitions of health, illness, and disease causation on an individual`s health maintenance practices and response to healers. (III, XII) 4. Compare and contrast healing and treatment methods of various cultures with those of the Western health care delivery system and asses their influence upon that system. (IV, XII) 5. Identify cultural strengths and barriers which influence utilization of health care services. (V, XII) 6. Explore variations in family structure and dynamics across U.S. and non-U.S. cultures. (VI, XII) 7. Explore cultural components of the aging process, and dying and death across cultures. (VII, XII) 8. Apply models for assessing client cultural orientations and health care expectations, psychosocial structures, language, and communication patterns to individuals from different ethnic groups. (VIII, XII) 9. Identify strategies for delivery of culture-specific care based on the evaluation of cultural assessment data. (X, XI, XII)
MCCCD Official Course Competencies must be coordinated with the content outline so that each major point in the outline serves one or more competencies. MCCCD faculty retains authority in determining the pedagogical approach, methodology, content sequencing, and assessment metrics for student work. Please see individual course syllabi for additional information, including specific course requirements.

MCCCD Official Course Outline
I. The role culture plays in determining how different people across the globe perceive and shape their world A. Influence of value orientations B. Identification of differences and similarities across cultures II. The role of cultural relativism in health care A. Exploration of concepts of health and illness among cultures within and outside of the United States B. International migration C. Making cross-cultural judgments in a culturally diverse environment D. Ethnocentrism and cultural imposition E. Moving from tolerance/intolerance, and acceptance/rejection to dialogue, understanding, and change III. Cultural definitions of health, illness, and disease causation, including how they affect an individual`s health maintenance practices and response to healers A. Relationship between culture and definitions of health and illness B. Influence of immigration on physical and mental health problems in minority groups IV. Healing and treatment methods of various cultures A. How they compare with those of the Western health care delivery system B. How they influence the U.S. health care system V. The role of cultural strengths and barriers in utilization of health care services A. Cultural attitudes toward time and their effect on the individual`s health maintenance practice and interaction with the dominant health care system B. Ways health care professionals` own prejudices, stereotypes, cultural assumptions, and communication patterns can interfere with effective health care delivery in a culturally pluralistic society C. Exploring the health care provider`s culture and the effect it has on relationships with multicultural clients D. Communication 1. Interaction styles 2. Utilization of interpreters 3. Recognizing who is involved in communication and decision making E. Influence of language and communication VI. Variations in family structure and dynamics across cultures A. Assessing how one`s own assumptions about family structure and family dynamics have been culturally conditioned B. Factors which determine the value of children to a society VII. Cultural components of the aging process, dying, and death across cultures A. Cultural components in the aging process B. Cultural attitudes toward death and how they affect the health care of the terminally ill VIII. Models for assessing client cultural orientations A. Health care expectations B. Psychosocial structures C. Language D. Communication patterns to individuals from different ethnic groups IX. Assessing the extent to which one`s own beliefs and values have been culturally determined A. Assessing the extent to which one`s own concepts of health and illness have been culturally determined B. Definition of self and non-self (control/non-control) and how these definitions compare across cultures X. Strategies for delivery of culture-specific care based on the evaluation of cultural assessment data XI. Showing respect for diverse values and preferences of other individuals and groups XII. Participation in interactive learning strategies to become sensitive to, and respectful of: A. The mores and preferences of one`s own culture and those of others B. The richness of cultural variations C. The influence of cultural variables on personal and professional interactions

MCCCD Governing Board Approval Date: 2/26/2002

All information published is subject to change without notice. Every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of information presented, but based on the dynamic nature of the curricular process, course and program information is subject to change in order to reflect the most current information available.