Understanding patients' cultural beliefs helps health providers serve them better

To explore the experience of diabetes among British Bangladeshis Greenhalgh et al used a variety of qualitative approaches, including interviews, story telling, and focus groups, among 40 Bangladeshis and a control group of white and Afro-Carribean people from east London (p 978). Lay sources of information, belief in external causes of diabetes, and negative connotations of exercise were prominent among the Bangladeshis. But the authors point out that material barriers such as poor housing and unsafe streets were at least as important in preventing improved health as cultural factors. They suggest that an understanding of patients' belief systems can help doctors to tailor their advice most effectively.


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Relevant Article

Health beliefs and folk models of diabetes in British Bangladeshis: a qualitative study
Trisha Greenhalgh, Cecil Helman, and A Mu'min Chowdhury
BMJ 1998 316: 978-983. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

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