The Use Of “Transitional” Fiction To Facilitate Cross-Cultural Understanding And Insight In Family Practice Residents
Johanna Shapiro, Ph.D.; Patricia Lenahan, LCSW
It is by now well-established that sociocultural factors play a significant role in determining the outcome of clinical encounters (1), and that culturally sensitive health care services can result in improved health status for patients (2). It is also true that continued gaps between evidence-based medicine and patient health belief models (3), as well as frequent cross-cultural differences between physicians and patients in expectations of roles and responsibilities (4) lead to misunderstanding, noncompliance, and dissatisfaction.