This paper examines the relationship between culture and health through a case study of a young Hispanic woman originally from El Salvador. Drawing on an interview, the paper identifies negative health-related behaviors common in the Hispanic community — such as limited healthcare access and physical inactivity — alongside positive cultural factors including strong family networks and optimistic attitudes toward medicine. The author then compares these findings with the African American cultural experience, highlighting similarities in collectivism and social disadvantage while noting differences in education levels and health-seeking behavior. Together, these perspectives illustrate how cultural background meaningfully shapes individual and community health outcomes.
Culture refers to the pattern of customs, ideas, and behaviors shared by a specific group of people or community. In essence, culture encompasses the shared values and norms of a group or society. Culture plays an important role in how people view and interact with the world around them, shaping their attitudes, behaviors, and perceptions regarding their environment. Given this influence, culture also plays a significant role in health and wellbeing, shaping people's attitudes and behaviors relating to their personal health. Therefore, cultural awareness is an important component of effective healthcare delivery. This paper examines the role of culture in healthcare based on a case study of an individual from a cultural background different from my own.
To examine the role of culture in health, an individual with a Hispanic cultural background was interviewed. I first met the interviewee at a summer job in 2021 at a restaurant in Washington, DC, where I served as a waiter and she bused tables. We are the same age, and she is originally from El Salvador. She came to the United States to join her mother in 2016 when she was 15 years old. She is Hispanic and speaks some English. While she could not formally describe her culture, she stated that she had lived in a poor area in El Salvador that was plagued by gang activity, drug and alcohol abuse, violence, and sexual abuse. She currently lives in a section of DC with a large Spanish-speaking population, residing in an apartment building with her mother, grandmother, aunt, three siblings, a niece, and her son. She noted that her mother and grandmother work hard cleaning houses and office buildings.
A couple of months before the interview, her mother was unable to work due to back problems. The interviewee stated that she and her family all need to lose weight, as they are overweight. She has struggled with diabetes since giving birth to her son. She indicated that she needs a physical health assessment but is waiting to obtain health insurance, having failed to renew her government-issued coverage. Her neighborhood is known for gun violence. Gang members killed her father in El Salvador when she was 10 years old. Her mother had left her in El Salvador with her grandmother when she and her younger siblings immigrated to the United States in 2011. The interviewee is a high school dropout but is currently studying for her GED.
As reflected in her work habits and living situation, the interviewee appears to come from a collectivistic culture in which group activities and communal living are preferred. She stated that she prefers working alongside others and living with her extended family rather than living alone with her son. At the workplace, she was known for advocating cooperation and harmony within her department and across the organization. She was also recognized for her hospitality and consistently positive demeanor.
Health-related behaviors are partly shaped by patterns of behavior that emerge from shared ideas, values, and meanings within a cultural group. Jia et al. (2017) contend that culture affects health-related behaviors by influencing how people think and act. Obesity, diabetes, and hypertension are among the most common health problems within the Hispanic community. Since the interviewee reported struggling with being overweight and with diabetes, there are clearly cultural factors contributing to negative health-related behaviors. One such behavior is poor access to healthcare services, which is attributable to underinsurance or lack of insurance coverage among many Hispanics. A second concern is activity limitations, which have contributed to overweight problems within the family. Insufficient physical activity to support health and wellbeing results in elevated rates of overweight and obesity. Other negative health-related behaviors that represent risk factors for poor health outcomes include drug and substance abuse, which the interviewee noted was prevalent in her community of origin.
"Family connectedness and positive attitudes toward medicine"
"How Hispanic culture positively shapes health outcomes"
"Similarities and differences in two collectivist cultures"
"Cited sources on culture, health, and Hispanic disparities"
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