Cultural factors appear to be a critical impact on health conditions and healthcare. Cultural vulnerability identifies the approach of people to the community and how it affects different spheres of the lives of its members. In contrast, resilience is a characteristic of the culture that specifies its ability to withstand changes and develop its identity and knowledge. Overall, both factors define the health conditions of a population as society’s view of it is based on the culture’s vulnerability and resilience.
To begin with, a specific culture is always vulnerable to how other people treat it. Social vulnerability determines the characteristics of a particular group of people in terms of their ability to resist and cope with social challenges. In other words, people’s perception of a community defines their attitude towards them and usually results in intolerance. Therefore, people may be discriminated against because of their ethnicity as individuals can be harsh and unfair to them (Husted et al., 2015). Such a situation is expected in the healthcare sphere since some people are treated and cared for appropriately, whereas others may suffer from the physicians’ harsh approach to them (Stephen et al., 2018). That is why medics’ ignorance of the culture’s representatives contradicts the primary concepts of medicine, doctrine, and ethics.
Furthermore, people may be culturally vulnerable because they lack access to information and, therefore, have not acquired knowledge in crucial aspects of their lives. Naturally, it can also be connected to healthcare and maintaining a healthy lifestyle, which may seem like a challenge to vulnerable cultures as they are not educated on these topics (Stephen et al., 2018). However, sometimes it may also be evident in situations where a community does not have enough resources to visit hospitals or medics to treat the disease. It may happen due to the low incomes of individuals or underdeveloped residences that the population accommodates, considering that people “living in rural areas often have worse health than the general population” (Joszt, 2020, para. 6). The disparity concerning healthcare may be provoked by geographical isolation, socioeconomic status, or the predisposition of a specific community to contract severe diseases (Joszt, 2020). By and whole, vulnerable populations include ethnic and racial minorities that suffer from disparate healthcare access due to the group’s economic, social, and cultural characteristics.
Cultural resilience specifies the characteristics of a particular group of people that assist the community in resisting or coping with severe health conditions. To be more selective, the culture’s representatives can have robust health because of the genetic factors of their ancestors (Raghavan & Sandanapitchai, 2019). For instance, the community can easily withstand severe weather conditions if they are used to the cold in their living place (De Chesnay & Anderson, 2016). Similarly, they may have a more developed immune system that minimizes the risk of them contracting infections and viruses that negatively impact other populations with worse body capacity (Raghavan & Sandanapitchai, 2019). Furthermore, the community may be more likely to adjust to different settings when forced to without experiencing a negative influence on their health. Raghavan and Sandanapitchai (2019) suggest that cultural resilience can impact an individual’s reaction to health problems and how they opt for solving these problems based on their knowledge and economic resource (Ruzek, 2020). Therefore, some people tend to treat their illnesses themselves without arranging appointments with doctors, using the traditional methods of the culture; whereas, others view a visit to the hospital for professional care as a more reasonable and practical option.
Additionally, cultural resilience can be evident in a situation where members adopt the population’s resources and knowledge to enhance physical, mental, and social health conditions and access to healthcare for the whole group. As mentioned, the community’s ability to withstand adversity is directly connected to preserving human health since people “prepare for disaster and protect infrastructure” to save their lives (Public Health Emergency, 2021, para. 5). That is why an advanced healthcare system is of detrimental value for the population, as they can use the physicians’ services in times of need or especially in pandemics when most group members contract the same infection or virus (Ruzek, 2020). Consequently, easily accessible health information can be helpful for individuals because they will be educated on the methods of solving health problems, so “optimal levels of physical and psychological health and well-being within the population facilitate the community’s rapid recovery” (Public Health Emergency, 2021, para. 7). By and whole, cultural resilience is firmly dependant on the population’s resources as they identify the possible scope of change to healthcare advancement and sustainment.
To sum up, cultural resilience and vulnerability determine the community’s ability to access healthcare or cope with severe health issues. In addition, it specifies the population’s resources and genetic characteristics that assist individuals in facing adversity and the time they need to adjust to it. Cultural vulnerability, in contrast, indicates the social factors that can influence people receiving appropriate and high-quality treatment and healthcare at institutions.
References
De Chesnay, M. & Anderson, B. A. (2016). Caring for the vulnerable: Perspectives in nursing theory, practice, and research (5th ed.). Sudbury, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning.
Husted, G.L., Husted, J.H., Scotto, C. J. & Wolf, K.M. (2015). Bioethical decision making in nursing (5th ed.). NY: Springer Publishing.
Joszt, L. (2020). 5 vulnerable populations in healthcare. AJMC. Web.
Public Health Emergency. (2021). Community resilience. Web.
Raghavan, S. S., & Sandanapitchai, P. (2019). Cultural predictors of resilience in a multinational sample of trauma survivors. Frontiers in Psychology, 10. Web.
Ruzek, J. I. (2020). Disaster Response, Mental Health, and Community Resilience. Psychiatric Times. Web.
Stephen, L., Anna-Maria, V., Tami, W., Louise, H., & a David, N. (2018). Understanding social and cultural factors associated with composite vulnerability to better inform community intervention strategies: Cities changing diabetes in Houston.International Archives of Public Health and Community Medicine, 2(1). Web.