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Article: Cultural Appropriateness
- Article from:
- Encyclopedia of Public Health
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CULTURAL APPROPRIATENESS
Sensitivity to other cultures refers to the awareness of how other ethnic, racial, and/or linguistic groups differ from one's own. Sensitivity can be manifested through knowledge of different languages or manners of speech, norms, and mores, religious beliefs and practices, family structures and dynamics, community decision-making patterns, and class consciousness and socioeconomic realities. Cultural appropriateness puts this sensitivity in action through the tailoring of public health interventions to specific cultures or subcultures. Thus, public-and clinical-health services, health behavior change interventions and social marketing, community organization ...