CULTURAL PERCEPTIONS AND MISCONCEPTIONS – PRACTICAL ISSUES (GENERAL INFORMATION)
It is common for Asian families to express a preference for a woman doctor, particularly for vaginal exarninations. This does not necessarily mean that the patient is shy or repressed sexually. Western doctors often assume, sometimes accurately, that women from the ethnic majority who are inhibited about male doctors may be generally shy about their sexuality. The same outward mannerism in an Islamic woman may be the expression only of her religious conformity, and nothing to do with her personal sexual life. This confusion has a parallel in the differences observed concerning eye or hand contact.
The organization of clinics, public notices, reception services, appointment systems and records needs to be sensitive to local needs. Texts should be translated carefully and displayed the right way up. It is an advantage if staff can be recruited from ethnic minorities. Family or address grouping of records may be useful, but it is important to watch that this does not lead to an impersonal and racist relationship where staff call for patients by their address rather than their names. The domiciliary service is an appropriate use of family planning nurses for women who are less mobile because of larger families, fear of racial harrassment or who find it socially and practically difficult to go out without their husbands who are working long hours. The home visit, by its visibility, is an advertisement for local services to neighbours and friends.
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