Discussion: Temporal relationships Proxemics
Worldview Temporal relationships Proxemics Individualism Collectivism Fate versus free will Euthanasia Karma Ahimsa Advance directive Living will Durable power of attorney Biomedical worldview Mind–body integration
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Learning Objectives
After reading this chapter, you should be able to:
1. Explain what worldview means and how it is related to culture.
2. Describe at least three components of worldview that affect health.
3. Explain how worldview influences beginning- and end-of-life medical decisions.
4. Describe how worldview is related to how health is perceived and how problems are expressed.
A person’s worldview is closely linked to his or her cultural and religious background, and it has profound implications for health care. Worldview influences lifestyle, and it is imperative that health care professionals understand its impact on health care decisions, involve patients in decisions and actions, and accommodate patients’ beliefs to provide congruent care.
This chapter begins with a discussion of worldview, particularly in terms of time, personal space, individual autonomy, free will, and fate, and explains how these major components relate to health care. Then we move into more specific ways that worldview affects medical decisions and how people perceive and respond to illness.
Worldview A worldview is a set of cultural assumptions and beliefs that express how people see, interpret, and explain their experience (Tilbert, 2010). It helps us make sense of our lives. Worldview includes our relationships with nature, our social relationships, our ethical reasoning, and cosmology (study of the universe and humanity’s place) (Purnell, 2013). It even affects our view of aesthetics. For example, most of us know that sun exposure contributes to skin cancer, but some cultures view tans as healthy whereas others see very white skin as beautiful (e.g., the Japanese culture), which is why skin lightening is done.Culture fits within the larger structure of worldviews. Worldviews are the beliefs and assumptions by which an individual can make sense of experiences, and these are what culture is built upon. Cultural groups have varied views of the world, and when they clash, people may find the behavior of others offensive or confusing. Some of the prominent variances in worldviews include health beliefs, orientation toward time, use of space, social and family organization, and communication.
You must proofread your paper. But do not strictly rely on your computer’s spell-checker and grammar-checker; failure to do so indicates a lack of effort on your part and you can expect your grade to suffer accordingly. Papers with numerous misspelled words and grammatical mistakes will be penalized. Read over your paper – in silence and then aloud – before handing it in and make corrections as necessary. Often it is advantageous to have a friend proofread your paper for obvious errors. Handwritten corrections are preferable to uncorrected mistakes.
Use a standard 10 to 12 point (10 to 12 characters per inch) typeface. Smaller or compressed type and papers with small margins or single-spacing are hard to read. It is better to let your essay run over the recommended number of pages than to try to compress it into fewer pages.
Likewise, large type, large margins, large indentations, triple-spacing, increased leading (space between lines), increased kerning (space between letters), and any other such attempts at “padding” to increase the length of a paper are unacceptable, wasteful of trees, and will not fool your professor.
The paper must be neatly formatted, double-spaced with a one-inch margin on the top, bottom, and sides of each page. When submitting hard copy, be sure to use white paper and print out using dark ink. If it is hard to read your essay, it will also be hard to follow your argument.