The communication of wellness concepts interculturally in an Alaskan health-care context

Abstract

A review of the literature on cross-cultural health care reveals an agreement that health care should "fit" the cultural values and beliefs of the people it serves. However, few authors provide theories that could be applied to overcoming obstacles that surface in the context of cultural difference.The purpose of this study is to investigate in what ways cultural value differences between Alaskan Native clients and non-Native health professionals affect the communicating of "wellness" concepts. Specifically, this study focuses on possible difference in the cultural value Utilizing the descriptive method for data collection, both oral interviews and a written instrument measuring "Health Locus of Control" were included. Thirty subjects included twenty Natives and ten non-Natives. The twenty Natives were administered the author-generated interview questions (modified with suqgestions of five Native pretest subjects). Of this Native group ten were health providers and were also given the written instrument. The ten nonNatives were health providers and they too completed the written instrument.A !_-test was performed on the results of the Health Locus of Control instrument. Although not statistically significant, the differences between the two groups were suggestive of definite value orientation differences, Natives proving to be more internally oriented than nonNatives. 3A thematic analysis was undertaken to identify and evaluate themes generated by the interview questions. This data was also used to cross-validate the written instrument results.Both the interview and written instrument data suggested that Native people had a strong belief in selfresponsibility for their own health and that they experienced communication problems that resulted from culturespecific differences between the two groups.Information from this study provided methodological suggestions that may prove valuable for future research in this area.