Communicating with Diverse Culture Patients: Case Study of Caddo Indians

Abstract

Communication is a growing challenge in the medical field as more people from diverse cultures and tribes have started to migrate towards cities and to avail proper healthcare facilities. This paper discusses the culture and norms of a typical Caddo Indian and different ways to overcome barriers to communication with a person from a different culture.

Table of Contents

Abstractii

Table of Contentsiii

Introduction1

History2

Culture and Norms of the Caddo Indian2

Communication in the Field of Medicine3

Overcoming Barriers to Communication3

Conclusion5

References6

Introduction

Cultural communication or intercultural communication, which, by many is termed in different ways, is an area of learning that studies means used by natives from differing civilizing backgrounds converse, in like and unlike ways among themselves.

Since the industrial revolution, our world has advanced at an enormous pace. Our economies and our way of living, everything has changed. Therefore, technological advancement in the field of communication has brought people belonging to different cultures in proximity with each other. It can be assumed that people belonging to one culture living in one corner of the world are not easily connected to people in other parts of the world.

In this context, it is also important to know what importance communication has in different fields and also when communicating with people belonging to different cultures. In ancient times culture was termed as something which was inherited from one generation to other, but as the society evolved humans modernized this phenomenon was challenged; and so material culture evolved. With this different forms of barriers were witnessed when inter cultural communication took place.

The association between civilization and verbal communication has been tracked back in historical ages. The prehistoric Greeks, for instance, were renowned amongst the civilized working class and those, who used unintelligible language to communicate. The fact that different groups speak different jumbled languages is often considered more concrete confirmation for cultural differences than other less clear cultural traits.

This study discusses the various communication barriers that a doctor or medical services officer may come across when communicating with a Caddo Indian or someone who belongs to a very different culture.

History

The Caddo Indians are primarily a group of people who belong to different set of tribes. The Caddo Indian Nation comprised of top notch agriculturalists who strived to preserve their tradition and culture. Today, these Caddo Indians are known to have settled around Northern Louisiana and Oklahoma. It is due to their consistent effort to preserve their rich cultural heritage and primitive ways that they still exist today, although less in number (Godfrey, 2011).

Their group was made up of a number of tribes, claiming as their unique land the entire lower Red River and adjacent state in Louisiana, eastern Texas, and Southern Arkansas (Glover, 2000).

Culture and Norms of the Caddo Indian

 Caddo Indians were primarily farmers and agriculturalists. They used to work on fields around their villages. They used to plant corn, vegetables and some fruits that formed part of their daily diet. Caddoes were known to be very active in nature and were on ...