Cultural influence in communication and nursing care: The case of UAE

JOHN NYAH MBOUT, SRN, BSN, HAAD-RN

UAE

The increasing diversity of the nation brings opportunities and challenges for health care providers, health care systems, and policymakers to create and deliver culturally competent services. Cultural competence is defined as the ability of providers and organizations to effectively deliver health care services that meet the social, cultural, and linguistic needs of patients.

“Culture" refers to integrated patterns of human behavior that include the language, thoughts, actions, customs, beliefs, and institutions of racial, ethnic, social, or religious groups (California Endowment, 2003). Every culture has beliefs about health, disease, treatment, and health care providers.

Health is a cultural concept because culture frames and shapes how we perceive the world and our experiences.

All cultures have systems of health beliefs to explain what causes illness, how it can be cured or treated, and who should be involved in the process. The extent to which patients perceive patient education as having cultural relevance for them can have a profound effect on their reception to information provided and their willingness to use it.

Business leaders know that intercultural savvy is vitally important – not just because they have to deal increasingly with globalization, but also because the workforce within their own national borders is growing more and more diverse.

Intercultural communication in its most basic form refers to understanding how people from different countries and cultures behave, communicate and perceive the world around them. Given the growing multicultural population in the UAE, intercultural communication research is actively being applied in healthcare settings so that doctors and their staffs can relate effectively to their patients from diverse cultural backgrounds.

The United Arab Emirates houses a diverse and vibrant community. The residing population originates from a number of Arab tribes. Over the time, the existing community has started to diversify with the arrival of the Iranians in the 1800s, followed by Indians (both Muslims and Hindus), especially in Dubai due to its prosperous pearl market, given its location on the coastline.3  The Emirati Arabic culture is a perfect blend of the Islamic, Persian and even Indian culture. This is evident in the architecture, dressing norms, cuisines, folk dances, and the usage of certain words in everyday language.  But the Arabic Islamic culture remains the strongest and the most obvious influence on the UAE community.

Delivering high-quality care to Muslim patients involves having an awareness of the ramifications of the Islamic faith and Islamic beliefs. Nurses need to understand the implications of spiritual and cultural values for clinical practice. They should be aware of the need for modesty and privacy, the appropriate use of touch, dietary requirements and use of medications.

For a better understanding, this presentation will provide a brief overview of the existing culture and beliefs in UAE, before wading into it influences in communication and nursing care.

This concept will be presented in the following sub-topics:

• The significance of the concept
• Critical analysis of the concept
• Overview of existing culture and beliefs in the UAE
• Application and influence of the concept in nursing care in the UAE: culture as a competency and influence of religion
• Way forward of the concept