CROSS-CULTURAL DIFFERENCES IN THE CARE OF PATIENTS WITH CANCER - A REVIEW

In order to assure optimal care of patients with chronic medical illnesses it is necessary to take into account the cultural factors that may influence health-related behaviors. By using cancer as a model, this paper discusses the major cultural issues that should be considered in order to increase cultural sensitivity in the medical setting: family function, sex roles, language, disclosure of disease-related information, pain, attitudes towards illness and health practices, immigration, religion, autonomy versus dependency, and death and bereavement. Case histories illustrating the relevance of such sociocultural factors in the cancer setting are reported.