Transcultural Nursing, Poverty, and Health – Key Vocabulary

A comprehensive set of vocabulary cards covering cultural, social, and healthcare concepts from the lecture notes.

Socioeconomic Status (SES)

A major social determinant of health that strongly predicts disease, injury, and mortality.

Deep Poverty

Living at less than 50% of the federal poverty level.

Holistic View of Poverty

Considers physical (housing, healthcare), mental (education, opportunity), and spiritual (despair, disparagement) aspects.

Medicare

U.S. national health insurance started in 1966 for people ≥65 and certain younger disabled persons; divided into Parts A–D.

Medicaid

Joint federal-state program providing healthcare to low-income individuals; largest U.S. insurer of children.

Affordable Care Act (ACA)

2010 U.S. law expanding insurance coverage, banning pre-existing condition exclusions, and adding essential benefits.

Maternal Mortality

Death of a woman during pregnancy or within 42 days of termination; U.S. rate is highest among industrialized nations.

Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs)

Traumatic events before age 18 linked to adult chronic disease, mental illness, and violence.

Positive Childhood Experiences (PCEs)

Supportive relationships and safe environments that buffer or mitigate the impact of ACEs.

Health Belief Model (HBM)

Framework explaining health behaviors through perceived susceptibility, seriousness, benefits, barriers, cues, and self-efficacy.

Magico-Religious Health Belief System

Illness viewed as mystical or spiritual, possibly punishment or reward; includes beliefs in evil eye, sorcery, and spirit possession.

Scientific/Biomedical Model

Western medical paradigm viewing health as absence of disease and emphasizing measurable cause-and-effect.

Holistic Health Belief System

Focuses on balance between person and environment; treats the whole person rather than the disease.

Complementary Health Practices

Therapies used in addition to allopathic care (e.g., acupuncture or massage).

Integrative Health Practices

Evidence-based complementary therapies deliberately combined with conventional medicine.

Alternative Health Practices

Therapies used instead of allopathic/biomedical care.

Cultural Humility

Lifelong self-reflection and commitment to redressing power imbalances in healthcare relationships.

Health Literacy

Ability to obtain, process, and understand health information to make appropriate decisions.

CLAS Standards

National guidelines for providing culturally and linguistically appropriate healthcare services.

Title VI (Civil Rights Act 1964)

Federal law requiring recipients of federal funds to provide meaningful access for people with Limited English Proficiency.

Ageism

Implicit or explicit discrimination based on age, affecting care and health outcomes of older adults.

Filial Piety

Cultural value, especially in many Asian societies, mandating respect and care for elders.

Transcultural Nursing

Field focusing on comparative study and application of cultural care values, beliefs, and practices.

Cultural Care Preservation/Maintenance

Nursing action that supports beneficial cultural health practices.

Cultural Care Accommodation/Negotiation

Adjusting or negotiating care to satisfy both patient culture and medical goals (e.g., scheduling dressings around prayer times).

Cultural Care Repatterning/Restructuring

Helping clients modify culturally driven behaviors that are harmful to health.

Cultural Imposition

Forcing one’s own cultural beliefs and practices on another person.

Ethnocentrism

Belief in the superiority of one’s own culture or ethnic group.

Xenophobia

Prejudice or dislike against people from other countries.

Cultural Stereotype

Oversimplified, often negative generalization about a cultural group.

Acculturation

Psychological and cultural change due to continuous contact between cultures.

Institutional Racism

Systemic policies producing unequal access to goods and services based on race/ethnicity.

Social Clock

Culturally defined timeline for expected life events (e.g., marriage, retirement).

Cultural Competence

Ability of providers and systems to deliver care effectively to people of diverse backgrounds.

Biocultural Variation

Normal physiologic differences among populations that affect assessment findings.

Pulse Oximetry Bias

Tendency of pulse oximeters to overestimate oxygen saturation in individuals with darker skin tones.

Pain Threshold/Tolerance Differences

Culturally and biologically influenced variations in perception and endurance of pain.

Culture-Bound Syndrome

Condition recognizable within a culture but not necessarily by biomedical criteria (e.g., Susto, Ataque de Nervios).

Susto

Latin American culture-bound syndrome attributed to fright causing soul loss, leading to malaise and depression.

Ghost Sickness

Indigenous North American syndrome involving preoccupation with the dead, weakness, and nightmares.

Participatory Women’s Groups (PWG)

WHO-endorsed community groups that address culturally relevant concerns of pregnant women.

Unintended Pregnancy

Pregnancy that is either unwanted or mistimed at conception; ~35.7% of U.S. pregnancies.

Postpartum Depression (PPD)

Clinical depression occurring after childbirth, affecting approx. 1 in 10 U.S. mothers.

Yin and Yang

Chinese holistic concept of balancing opposite forces; imbalance leads to illness.

Hot–Cold Theory

Humoral system classifying foods, medicines, and diseases as ‘hot’ or ‘cold’ to maintain bodily balance.

Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM)

Broad term covering therapies like herbal medicine, yoga, acupuncture, outside mainstream biomedicine.

Health Disparity

Preventable difference in disease burden or health opportunities among populations.

Limited English Proficiency (LEP)

Status of individuals who cannot communicate effectively in English, requiring language assistance in healthcare.

ASKED Model

Self-assessment tool for cultural competence: Awareness, Skill, Knowledge, Encounters, Desire.

Purnell Model for Cultural Competence

Framework using concentric rings (global society to individual) and cultural domains for assessment.

Leininger’s Sunrise Model

Diagram showing how worldview and social structure influence cultural care expressions.

Andrews/Boyle TIP Model

Transcultural Interprofessional Practice model emphasizing context, team, communication, and problem-solving.

Mongolian Spot

Benign bluish skin patch common in infants of Asian, African, or Hispanic descent.

Filipino ‘Pasma’

Belief that cold–hot imbalance causes hand tremors or illness; example of culture-bound explanatory model.

Co-Sleeping

Parent–child sleep arrangement common in many cultures, but discouraged by AAP due to SIDS risk.

Cultural Survival

Transmission of values and customs from one generation to the next to maintain a culture.

Functional Health Literacy

Minimum reading and numeracy skills necessary for everyday health tasks.

Evil Eye

Belief that a malicious stare can cause harm or illness; protective amulets often used.

Doula

Lay birth companion providing non-medical emotional and physical support during childbirth.

Folk Healer

Community-based healer using traditional knowledge rather than formal biomedical training.

Institutional Interpreter

Trained individual providing language services in healthcare; preferable to family or untrained staff.

Elder Speak

Patronizing speech style toward older adults, linked to ageism and negative health effects.

Meaningful Death

End-of-life experience aligned with an individual’s cultural, spiritual, and personal values.