Health Matters: A Pocket Guide for Working with Diverse Cultures and Underserved Populations

Currently, minority populations represent approximately twenty-five percent of the nation. Hundreds of thousands of health care workers and social service providers that work with these groups must understand how to interact with people of a variety of cultural backgrounds in order to deliver care effectively. Health Matters: A Pocket Guide for Working with Diverse Cultures and Underserved Populations is an indispensable guide for health care professionals and social service providers who encounter diverse cultures every day.This useful handbook offers practical advice for caring for people from a wide range of cultures in an easy-to-use and accessible format. It discusses how providers can become more culturally sensitive in the planning and delivery of their services and provides specific information on the health practices, beliefs and cultural patterns of many of the most significant refugee, immigrant and minority groups in the United States today. Easy-to-read key points serve as checklists for busy health providers interested in learning the skills involved in cultivating cultural awareness.Although this book is framed within the context of the United States, it provides some thoughtful insight into working with diverse cultures and underserviced populations. This book could be used to initiate dialogues with cultural communities and to enhance cultural awareness.-Dr. Ramsden, Canadian Family PhysicianContentsAcknowledgmentsIntroduction1 The Immigrant, Refugee, and Minority Experience in the United States2 Culturally Appropriate Health Care3 Becoming More Culturally Appropriate: General Strategies4 The Cultural Communities5 Resources and Readings