s are significantly different from those of the new land. This can result in culture shock, in that the individual will be forced to learn new ways of thinking and feeling. Sue and Sue (1990) support these cultural dynamics, that the manifestation of within-group differences can also entail migration and relocation experiences, the degree of assimilation or acculturation, identification with the home country, facility with their native and English languages, family composition and intactness, and degree of adherence to religious beliefs. To these, Kramm (1988) notes that Asian families tend to be family-oriented, rather than having individual orientations.
Interventions for the Maintenance of Clinical Standards
With these cultural dynamics in place, the health-care professional must be significantly aware of the culture and attendant cultural factors of the patient which he or she is treating (Luckmann & Sorensen, 1986). Sue and Sue (1990, p. 189) note that, in the case of Asian-Americans, "Between-group differences among the Asian-American population may be quite great since it is comprised of at least 29 distinct subgroups that differ in language, religion, and values." Consider a situation, for example, in which the health-care professional is treating an Asian-American who has been in America since birth. Should this individual have fairly well assimilated and/or acculturated to American society, and for the most part rejected parental expectations and ethnic norms and values, then there will still be issues leading to cultural conflicts. Those issues that probably will present include language differences, communication practices, adherence to religious beliefs, and perception of health and health-care professionals.
The Asian-American who was born in America may prove to have language difficulty in terms of what the health-care professional is attempting to convey, given that medical terminology is a sophisticat...