Intercultural and cross-cultural health communication: Understanding people and motivating healthy behaviors.

Culturally-universal and culturally-specific empirical variables to consider when motivating patients to adhere to medical regimens or when motivating target audiences to change their behaviors in health promoting or disease-preventing ways are identified.

Abstract

The authors examine empirical concepts related to intercultural health understanding and offer a theoretical perspective upon how to promote effective communication and understanding between physicians or public health practitioners and their patients. However while effective communication and mutual understanding between practitioners and patients is a necessary condition to promoting health and preventing disease it is not enough on its own. Once mutual understanding of a health issue is reached people must be motivated to act in health-promotive manners. The blind application of Western-based theories on how to encourage such behavior may be inappropriate and even harmful in some cultures. Culturally-based theories and approaches are called for. The author identifies culturally-universal and culturally-specific empirical variables to consider when motivating patients to adhere to medical regimens or when motivating target audiences to change their behaviors in health promoting or disease-preventing ways.