Culture in Clinical Care

Journal of Physical Therapy Education, Fall 2006 by Leavitt, Ronnie

Culture in Clinical Care. Bonder B, Martin L, Miracle A, eds. Thoroughfare, NJ, Slack Inc, 2002, softcover, 191 pp, $39.95.

Culture in Clinical Care, published in 2002, remains a unique contribution to the study of culture and its interaction with individual experiences and personality. This text is based on theory and practice related to the concept of culture itself, rather than the more typical presentation organized by specific groups of people defined by their ethnicity or special subgroup status (eg, people with disabilities). The contributing authors have expertise in the areas of psychology, linguistics, anthropology, sociology, education, occupational therapy, and foreign language.

This book is divided into 8 chapters: Introduction, Understanding Culture, Personality and Culture, The Role of Culture in Health and Health Care, Recognizing Cultural Differences: Lessons from Ethnography, Negotiating Cultural Differences in Working with Clients, Evaluating Clients and Designing Interventions in a Diverse World, and Assessing Intercultural Interactions and Interventions. Each chapter contains objectives, several case studies, and self-assessment activities. Examples come from a wide range of cultural groups, including those represented regularly in the literature (eg, Hispanic, African American, etc) as well as those whom the American physical therapist does not typically come into contact with, such as Hmong.

Examining specific concepts included in "The Role of Culture in Health and Health Care" is instructive with regard to understanding the approach of this book. This chapter emphasizes understanding the meaning of health and sickness in relation to culture, including content on the cultural construction of sickness, the perceptions of the causation of sickness, culture-bound syndromes, cross-cultural self-care practices and practitioners, and more.

Culture and Clinical Care is an excellent book that will foster the development of culturally appropriate client assessment and intervention. It can enrich physical therapist education by its interdisciplinary and social science approach. It can be used to augment more traditional texts on psychosocial and communication domains. Reading this book can expand the reader's horizons regarding different world views. Collegial discussions based on the critical-thinking questions of this text can be both stimulating and an effective means to improve cross-cultural clinical interactions. I recommend this book for the physical therapist educator, clinician, or student.

Ronnie Leavitt, PT, PhD

Associate Clinical Professor

School of Allied Health

University of Connecticut

Storrs, CT