UF Study: Patients Want More Culturally Sensitive Health Care

September 1, 2000

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — A UF study of culturally sensitive health care from the patient’s viewpoint has uncovered some different perspectives that can be used to help doctors be more sensitive and ultimately provide better care.

Psychology professor Carolyn Tucker and graduate student Tyler Pedersen studied the responses of black, Hispanic and white focus groups to find out what doctors do — and don’t do — to make patients feel comfortable and trusting. The responses also asked how sensitive the doctors are to the cultures of their patients.

The researchers studied 134 patients from Area Health Education Center primary care clinics in North Florida, most coming from lower socioeconomic backgrounds. Pedersen said they found many concerns to be similar across the cultural groups, including better listening, thoroughness and confidentiality.

“There are things physicians need to do no matter who they work with,” he said.

They did find differences among the groups. Hispanics wanted doctors who spoke Spanish or who could work well with interpreters. Pedersen said some African-Americans were afraid they would be given experimental drugs or used as guinea pigs.

“It was surprising how much African-Americans still mistrust the white establishment,” he said. “The study suggests that many African-American men are very hesitant to even see a physician unless it is a dire emergency.”

Tucker said African-Americans had other unique concerns.

“They were asking for more education about problems that are disproportionately high among African-Americans, like AIDS and hypertension,” she said. “They wanted more information so they could take better care of themselves.”

Tucker said one surprising finding was that there were also major gender differences across the cultural groups in what patients wanted from their doctors.

“A lot of times the women felt that their knowledge about their own problems and bodies was not respected by a male physician,” she said.

Tucker said a benefit of the study was learning strategies for encouraging minorities to participate in research, including taking research to the community and using people from the same culture as the participants to help conduct the research.

“If you have more researchers who look like and are sensitive to the target population, then more of them are likely to participate,” she said. “That would lead to more representative samples.”

Tucker said the study is unique because it addressed cultural sensitivity from the perspective of patients, who often feel powerless and intimidated about speaking up.

“Everybody else has been talking about culturally sensitive health care from the perspective of health experts,” she said. “Nobody has asked a large sample of patients.”

Tucker said the research is the first phase of a four-year program designed to train doctors and design health care clinics to be more culturally sensitive, and consequently, more effective.

“Most physicians want to be culturally sensitive,” she said. “The issue is that the physicians just don’t know the specifics in terms of how to help the patients feel more comfortable with and trusting of them.”

Testimony about the research findings so far has been entered into the congressional record to support the Minority Health Bill sponsored by Congressman John Lewis of Atlanta. Tucker also expects to speak to the members of the Congressional Black Caucus.

Tucker said the research is important because it affects peoples’ health and lives.

“This research and earlier studies indicate that if patients don’t feel comfortable with or trust their physicians, then they are not going to adhere to their medical regimens, which ultimately results in them being more likely to have medical problems,” she said. “That will cost more health care dollars, which impacts all Americans.”

By informing doctors how their patients feel and teaching them how to be more sensitive, Tucker said the program can benefit everyone.

“This research can make a positive difference in the lives of African-Americans, Hispanics and all Americans,” she said.