Culture shapes health experiences for consumers and practitioners equally. Culture deeply informs every aspect of life and encompasses the social and political dimensions of health.
“Intersectionality acknowledges that people have multiple identities, and have unique experiences when various forms of discrimination intersect with these identities. Inequities are never the result of single, distinct factors. Instead, they are the outcome of intersections between different social locations, power relations and experiences.
Disease refers to the actual physical pathology or malfunctioning in biological or psychological processes.
Illness encompasses the personal, social and cultural reaction to the disease, and the difficulties in living resulting from sickness.
Explanatory models are sets of ideas about illness which may relate to its cause, time and mode of onset, nature of the pathology, severity, course, and treatment.
Examples of professional and institution-based cultures include the culture of psychiatry, cultures of nursing practice and the culture particular to a religious or government service provider”
Moves to recognise diversity within societies is helping to deepen consideration of cultural issues in healthcare. Culture manifests at multiple levels; in the unique lived experience of individuals, in the historical legacies of particular groups, and in the cultures that develop within institutional settings.
Taking an intersectional approach to mental health encounters is vital to understanding the complex, multi-dimensional nature of people’s experiences and the challenges they may face.
While mental health assessments have typically focused on disease symptoms and pathology, people’s experience of illness or distress is culturally mediated by complex explanatory models. Practitioners themselves participate in personal and professional cultures which influence clinical encounters. Consumer-practitioner cultural similarities and differences can profoundly affect communication.