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Ethnicity influences disease risk, response, patient compliance
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Among the many things I enjoy about optometry is the opportunity to teach. I’ve had the great privilege of participating in our residents’ training at the University of Rochester Medical Center for the past 2 decades. In this capacity, residents rotate through our office and we, in turn, spend time with them at the residents’ hospital-based eye clinic. These rotations provide a diverse clinical experience for our residents, affording them exposure to a variety of primary eye care and contact lens patients. For me, these rotations provide an equally important lesson – one about a different sort of diversity.
Our primary practice is in a fairly upscale, affluent suburb of Rochester, N.Y. While we provide care for a diverse patient population – age, ethnicity, education, socioeconomic status – it is vastly different from the patient encounters in the residents’ clinic. Our hospital based residents’ clinic is an urban location and serves a population often referred from community outreach clinics. It is a different population with different patient care requirements. In short, despite being a mere 1.5 miles apart, these two offices serve a vastly different set of needs.
Influences on risk, response
During our formal training we learn a great deal about disease processes – the underlying pathophysiology, clinical presentation, risk factors and efficacy of various treatments. What becomes perfectly clear during our training is that all patients are not created equal when it comes to ocular disease. Sex, age and ethnicity all play a role in an individual’s risk for developing certain diseases as well as their response to therapeutic intervention.
While we understand these variables quite well, there is another aspect of patient care that is often overlooked. That aspect involves cultural diversity.
Undoubtedly, we all are products of genetics … and environment. Certainly, our ethnicity, family history and upbringing influence our beliefs and behavior. It is these variables that also influence the way in which we respond to certain situations and directives. In short, our cultural profile influences our likes, dislikes and – in the case of medical care – our compliance. It is for precisely this reason that we, as health care providers, understand and embrace cultural diversity.
Learning cultural competency
In this month’s issue, PCON’s associate editor, Jena Passut, addresses this topic in her article, Need for cultural competence increases as diversity becomes more commonplace”. This article serves as a template for becoming more culturally competent as well as a resource for learning more about this important topic.
I’m sure you’ll agree that appreciating cultural diversity is essential – to communicate effectively with, gain the respect of and provide the best possible care for each and every one of our patients.