Introduction
The great Maya Angelou once said, "Perhaps travel cannot prevent bigotry, but by demonstrating that all peoples cry, laugh, eat, worry, and die, it can introduce the idea that if we try and understand each other, we may even become friends." You live in a city with residents from a vast array of countries, religions and cultures. Your patients will eat different foods than you, practice different types of traditional medicine and have different expectations regarding what is respectful and professional behavior. And yet, your patients will still struggle with common enemies like diabetes, heart disease, arthritis, cancer and stomach ulcers. You must always have this in mind when interacting with your patients. The goal of this WebQuest is to take a peek into some of the different worlds your patients will come from. Take some time to consider how their own background impacts how they feel about what is happening in your healthcare setting. Remember that your goal as a healthcare professional is to help your patient's achieve wellness. How can we get a diabetic patient to follow a health eating plan if we aren't aware of their typical diet? How can we get a patient to take a medication if they don't believe that medications are healthy? The answer lies in respecting where our patients come from, and responding to who they are and what they believe.