DC
PHYSICIAN CREATES AN ENVIRONMENT OF TRUST FOR HIS PATIENTS
 Kyu
Rhee, M.D., an NHSC clinician and associate medical director
with Unity Health Care, Inc., Upper Cardozo Clinic, in
Washington, DC, cares for a diverse patient population—from
Spanish-speaking persons to Asians, Ethiopians, and individuals
who are homeless—in a busy urban setting. “Cultural
brokering is not a recipe approach,” he says, rather,
it is the process where listening is the essential component,
one that cuts across all cultures. By carefully listening
to his patients, Rhee says, he benefits by understanding
his patients holistically, and thus is able to better
treat their health care problems. This benefit became
starkly evident when he saw a woman from Zimbabwe who
had suffered from headaches for 4 years and from back
and chest pain for months.
After talking with her, Rhee
discovered she had been a rape victim, had witnessed
death as a child in her war-torn country, had left
her native home, and had just been divorced. Hearing
these
tragedies of life is an entrée into people’s
lives, he says, that can benefit the provider by helping
him or her to recognize cultural factors affecting patients’ health
and behaviors. Dr. Rhee, in his role as associate medical
director, is able to use the information he elicits from
patients to enhance and improve care. Additionally, as
a cultural broker, he is able to use this knowledge as
a vehicle to support other providers through mentoring
and inservice training.
For
more information:
Kyu
Ree Featured in Journal of Health Care for the Poor
and Underserved
Upper
Cardozo Center
BREAST
HEALTH AWARENESS BAG BENEFITS GENERATIONS
OF WOMEN
In Washington, DC, the Howard University
Cancer Center offers a Breast Health Awareness bag to
teen girls who participate
in the “ Project Early Awareness” breast health
education program. Cultural brokering is an essential aspect
and adds to the success of this program. The health education
model uses a young cancer survivor, Kimberly Marks, as a
cultural broker who is credible with, and leaves a lasting
impression on, young women participating in this program.
“They
know I’m only a little bit older than them,” Marks
says. “It makes my experience more real to them.” Participants
receive a bag after they have learned breast cancer detection
skills. This bag includes a breast self-exam shower card,
a plastic breast model, and other educational information.
It also contains a card that their mothers, grandmothers,
or other female relatives can complete and send back for
a free gift. The materials found in the bag serve as useful
health education information for the girls and for other
women in their families.
For
more information:
Howard
University Cancer Center
PHYSICIANS
GAIN INSIGHT INTO HMONG HEALTH BELIEFS AND PRACTICES
Physicians
in Merced County, CA, are learning more about the healing
practices of local Hmong shaman, to whom the community
looks first for its health care needs. Shaman function
as cultural brokers by increasing physiciansÕ understanding
of Hmong health practices and healing ceremonies used
for specific illnesses or conditions.
Physicians
are conducting interviews with practicing shaman to create
a historical account of traditional practices. Through
this program, coordinated by the Healthy House within
a MATCH (Multidisciplinary Approach to Cross-Cultural
Health) Coalition, a nonprofit community health organization,
physicians have become more aware and understanding
of
the kinds of healing interventions their Hmong patients
have sought before seeking the help of Western medicine.
RURAL
CLINICÕS COMMUNITY BOARD ENHANCES PROGRAM INCLUSIVENESS
AND SUSTAINABILITY
Dianne
Smith, executive director of Dove Creek Community Health
Clinic in rural Colorado, used her knowledge of the community
to seek respected community members to sit on the volunteer
board of trustees. Smith, who grew up in the remote town
of Dove, where the closest hospital is 26 miles away,
knew many of these individuals were from farming families
like hers and clearly understood the health care needs
of the community. She chose individuals from banking,
retail, schools, local government, and health care to
identify ways (1) to raise funds for the clinic to expand
its services and (2) to help create programs that would
improve access for the community, which in recent years,
suffered economically from years of drought.
The
board organized a telethon that raised $37,000 for clinic
equipment
and for room expansion. ÒTheir work gave them a sense
of pride,Ó Smith notes. ÒBecause the board represents
the community, the community feels strongly this is their
clinic, and that they all are part owners in it.Ó The
benefit to Dove Creek Community Health Clinic is a sustained
effort that strengthens the clinicÕs capacity to continue
to serve the health needs of the community. Smith exemplifies
the role of cultural broker by knowing both community
needs and community members and their quest to improve
community health.
For
more information:
Dianne
Smith, Dove Creek Community Health Clinic
NATIVE
AMERICAN WOMEN BRING DATE RAPE PREVENTION TO THE CLASSROOM
Date
rape and unhealthy relationships that lead to violence
against teens and young women are significant problems
on the Yankton Sioux reservation and in nearby areas
in South Dakota. The Native American WomenÕs Health Education
Resource Center identified these as serious problems
and decided to create a program that would increase awareness
and educate girls, starting at an early age.
The
Health Education Resource Center relied on its youth
advisory
council for expertise and for guidance on developing
curricula and programs. The youth advisory council
served as cultural brokers by sharing experiences about
real-life
situations involving dating and unhealthy relationships,
a perspective the adult staff could not possibly have.
The center developed a curriculum, complete with a
guide for facilitators and teachers, and a workbook for
young
women that has been widely disseminated to schools,
tribal youth programs, shelters in South Dakota, and
across
the country.
For
more information:
Native
American Women's Health Education Resource Center
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