Open up about cultural health
Be honest with your doctor about beliefs or traditions so that you can receive the most appropriate care
As a Canadian of Caribbean descent, one of the best parts of the upcoming Caribbean Carnival parade is the delicious food. Along the parade route, the scent of spices, grilling meat, bubbling curry and baking roti is enough to tempt anyone to overindulge.
But beware: One meal of jerk chicken, roti, rice and peas and some deep-fried fritters can equal more than an entire day’s worth of recommended calories and sodium for most people. You’d have to swim laps for three to four hours to work off one meal.
This is not to say that you should avoid such delicious food, but be honest with yourself about how much you’re eating. I often find people underestimate the amount of food and calories they take in at festivals like this.
Beyond being truthful with yourself, it’s also important to be honest with your doctor about what and how much you’re consuming: not just at festivals, but in your day-to-day life.
As a family physician, I can sometimes sense when patients are withholding information for fear I’ll judge them or their culture. And as a black physician in particular, I’ve had friends and acquaintances reveal they feel more comfortable telling me things than they would their own non-black family doctor.
But you need to be upfront about factors that may affect your health so that we as physicians can provide you with the most appropriate care.
All family physicians are trained in providing culturally competent care. We’re taught to be aware of our own cultural biases, how to ask respectful questions to better understand our patient’s backgrounds and how to adapt to their needs.
For instance, I’ve worked with patients on how to make small adjustments improve the healthfulness of their traditional meals.
Yet despite this training, there are undoubtedly times when a physician may be unaware of a personal belief or value, leading to miscommunication and unintentional acts of offence by a doctor toward a patient.
If this happens, patients should always feel empowered to speak to their physicians about any concerns they have that are informed by their beliefs or culture.
Being clear from the beginning about your preferences for care will allow your doctor to treat you while respecting your beliefs and values.
You may also phone ahead of time to make requests or inquire about a doctor’s openness to adapting their practices for sensitivity purposes.
If you feel misunderstood after an appointment, book another meeting to talk about it directly in an open and honest manner.
As doctors, we need to understand both your illness and you so that we can treat you in ways that make you comfortable and healthier.
Whether it’s one’s religious beliefs, gender, ethnicity, socioeconomic conditions, personality or something else, every patient brings his or her own history, values and perspectives. Just remember: patient-provider communication is a twoway street.
Aword about the front desk Culturally competent care extends all the way to the front desk of any clinic or doctor’s office. Administrative staff play a huge role in helping patients to feel welcome and comfortable.
If you feel that an administrator has been disrespectful or made assumptions about you based on your race, ethnicity or any other aspect of your culture, please tell the doctor or nurse. A bad experience at the front desk, especially one involving cultural misunderstanding or disrespect, casts a shadow over the entire visit and could stop you from opening up fully during your appointment.
Physicians relate to their front desk staff differently than patients do. They may be unaware of problems, but they need to know about them. Dr. Aisha Lofters is an assistant professor in the Faculty of Medicine’s Department of Family and Community Medicine and a family doctor at St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto. Doctors’ Notes is a weekly column by members of the U of T Faculty of Medicine. Email doctorsnotes@thestar.ca.