A Case of Culture

Book excerpt: There are three major healing traditions in the world: Western biomedicine, supernatural healing, and holistic healing. In a world of increasingly blended cultures, languages, and traditions, what happens when these contrasting healing practices clash? In A Case of Culture, author Snigdha Nandipati delves into the unspoken challenges that immigrant patients face when seeking healthcare in the West, exploring how we can bridge these cultural divides in our healthcare system. The solution? Cultural brokers. In this book, readers will learn how cultural brokers advocate for their patients, enhance the patient-doctor relationship, and build cultural humility in the healthcare setting through stories such as: the hospitalist who revived her unconscious elderly Indian patient by calling her "Aunty" the Latino Evangelical priest who used his sermon to encourage worshippers to get vaccinated against COVID-19 the psychiatrist who gained the trust of his Telugu patient with the skillful balance of spirituality and medicine Readers will better understand how culture plays a role in the medical care that is provided and how cultural brokers work to fill the growing culture gap in healthcare. This book will speak to healthcare providers and immigrant families alike - those who hope to look at culture and healthcare with fresh eyes.