Cultural barriers to compassionate care--patients' and health professionals' perspectives.

Cultural barriers to compassionate care are presented from two perspectives in healthcare: the patient and the health professional. Content areas include autonomy clashes between the patient and health professional, end-of-life values and preferences, cultural responses to pain and pain management, and the problem of stereotypical and uncaring behaviors toward people different from ourselves. Suggestions to address content areas caused by conflicting value systems include (1) a review of the literature on diversity, and (2) discovering one's sensitivity through exposure to various ethnic and cultural groups.