Anne Knights Rundle, a current MNA Leader Fellow from District 5, is the senior editor of Honoring Patient Preferences A Guide to Complying With Multicultural Patient Requirements, which has been released for publication by Jossey-Bass Publishers. Rundle has 10 years experience in health care, coordinating services to inner city and under-served Latino communities in the United States and South America. Below, she provides an abstract of the material covered in her book.
Rundle is also available to conduct workshops on the subject for health care provider groups.
Effective health care incorporates the cultural traditions and spiritual concerns of the patient and family. The authors, staff at Children s Hospital, Boston, have developed Honoring Patient Preferences to help providers improve relationships with patients and families who represent an increasingly diverse population. The guide offers basic information on the general characteristics and traditions of several cultural and religious groups. While the guide s objective is to acquaint providers with the traditions of other cultures, the authors urge them to first consider their own value systems since the providers own traditions, values, belief systems and biases may affect their care of a patient with different cultural norms. In the United States, many providers are educated under the Western tradition, which promotes certain values about health and illness.