Lipson J G, Meleis A I
West J Med. 1983 Dec;139(6):854-61.
Relationships between Middle Eastern patients and Western health care professionals are often troubled by mutual misunderstanding of culturally influenced values and communication styles. Although Middle Easterners vary ethnically, they do share a core of common values and behavior that include the importance of affiliation and family, time and space orientations, interactional style and attitudes toward health and illness. Problems in providing health care involve obtaining adequate information, "demanding behavior" by a patient's family, conflicting beliefs about planning ahead and differing patterns of communicating grave diagnoses or "bad news." There are guidelines that will provide an understanding of the cultural characteristics of Middle Easterners and, therefore, will improve rather than impede their health care. A personal approach and continuity of care by the same health care professional help to bridge the gap between Middle Eastern cultures and Western medical culture. In addition, periodic use of cultural interpreters helps ameliorate the intensity of some cultural issues.
中东患者与西方医护人员之间的关系常常因对受文化影响的价值观和沟通方式的相互误解而陷入困境。尽管中东人在种族上存在差异，但他们确实共享一些核心的共同价值观和行为，包括归属感和家庭的重要性、时间和空间观念、互动方式以及对健康和疾病的态度。提供医疗保健时出现的问题包括获取足够的信息、患者家属的“苛求行为”、对提前规划的相互冲突的信念以及传达严重诊断或“坏消息”的不同方式。有一些指导方针可以增进对中东人文化特征的理解，从而改善而非阻碍他们获得医疗保健。由同一名医护人员采用个性化方法并持续提供护理，有助于弥合中东文化与西方医学文化之间的差距。此外，定期使用文化口译员有助于缓解一些文化问题的严重程度。
