Ethnicity and age issues: Attitudes affecting rehabilitation of individuals with spinal cord injury.

Abstract

The individual with spinal cord injury, family, staff, and significant others bring attitudes regarding age and ethnicity into the rehabilitation team dynamic. Such preconceived attitudes may direct one's ability to be open to change and incorporate new information. The authors present 3 cases that highlight the bidirectional nature of bias challenges and the potential impact of bias issues on the hospital setting, staff, individual, family, and significant others. The bidirectional nature of bias challenges is illustrated with 2 cases of bias issues presented by individuals with spinal cord injury during hospitalization and with 1 case of bias impact on an individual health care provider. Interventions and strategies to maximize information sharing, education, and adjustment during hospitalization, discharge planning, and community living are discussed. Individuals may face increasing challenges in maximizing the derived benefit from both health care delivery and community services if personal bias plays a role in excluding qualified personnel from consideration.

Life satisfaction and self-efficacy in patients affected by a first stroke living in Kuwait: A two-phase study

“…Knowledge about patients' beliefs is considered a vital aspect of a biopsychosocial approach (Bhui, King, Dein, and O'Connor, 2008). Culture influences perceptions of symptoms, meanings of health, the experience of personal control, attitudes towards disability, and coping strategies (Gallaher and Hough, 2001;Snead and Davis, 2002;Skaff and Gardiner, 2003). In illustration, Saltapidas and Ponsford (2008) found that patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI) from minority group 3 backgrounds in Australia scored lower in internal locus of control (LOC) than patients from the dominant English-speaking culture.…”

Health professionals’ perceptions of cultural influences on stroke experiences and rehabilitation in Kuwait

“…Culture has been defined as: "a tradition of knowledge and practice that is shared, albeit imperfectly, across the members of a society and across its generations" (Zou, et al 2009: 579). It shapes people's experiences and their emotional reactions (Gard et al 2005), including their understandings of what it means to be healthy, the meanings of symptoms, attitudes towards disability and treatment, and coping strategies (Dean et al 2006;Gallaher and Hough, 2001). …”

The Influence of Cultural Background on Experiences and Beliefs about Traumatic Brain Injury and their Association with Outcome

“…Outcome studies have shown that factors such as age (Hoofien, Vakil, Gilboa, Donovick, & Barak, 2002) and injury severity, as measured by posttraumatic amnesia (PTA) duration and Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) scores, are relatively strong predictors of outcome, but account for less than 30 percent of the variance in outcomes (Ponsford, Olver, Curran, & Ng, 1995). Other studies have demonstrated that coping style, social factors (Moore & Stambrook, 1992;Moore, Stambrook, & Wilson, 1991;Snead & Davis, 2002) and motivation for and participation in rehabilitation (Cavallo & Saucedo, 1995;Gallaher & Hough, 2001;Wallace & Bogner, 2000) may also influence outcome. These factors may be influenced, in turn, by illness beliefs and cultural background.…”

“…Cultural norms and values guide beliefs about what is considered healthy (Brown, Ballard, & Gregg, 1994), how physical symptoms should be interpreted, appropriate illness behaviour and expression of symptoms (Gallaher & Hough, 2001), treatment norms and outcomes of illness or injury (Banja, 1996;Fitzgerald, 1992). Attitudes to illness and disability, coping style and utilisation of supports are also said to be shaped by cultural norms and values (Gallaher & Hough, 2001).…”

“…Cultural norms and values guide beliefs about what is considered healthy (Brown, Ballard, & Gregg, 1994), how physical symptoms should be interpreted, appropriate illness behaviour and expression of symptoms (Gallaher & Hough, 2001), treatment norms and outcomes of illness or injury (Banja, 1996;Fitzgerald, 1992). Attitudes to illness and disability, coping style and utilisation of supports are also said to be shaped by cultural norms and values (Gallaher & Hough, 2001). When examining health beliefs and practices in multicultural societies, it is important to assess the degree to which patients identify with and retain their own customs and their acceptance of host cultures; that is, their degree of acculturation (Berry, 1980;Berry, 1997).…”