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by
Jennifer Kowalewski
Studies have shown beta
blockers and ACE inhibitors, commonly used to treat
hypertension, may not be the proper course for many African
Americans battling high blood pressure. Patients can have
different interaction with pharmaceuticals, says Cora Muņoz,
Ph.D. Physicians who want to be culturally competent must
understand issues such as this in order to correct the health
disparities that exist between majority and minority
populations.
Muņoz, a professor of nursing
at Capital University, will speak about cultural competence
Wednesday, April 26, as part of the Minority Health Month
lecture series, which is sponsored by
the Center of Excellence for Multicultural Medicine and the
Office of Student Affairs. Created April 1989 by mandate of the
Ohio General Assembly, Minority Health Month is a 30-day, high
visibility health promotion and disease prevention campaign.
Muņoz, a nationally and
internationally known speaker, has given numerous scholarly
presentations and workshops.
She
frequently consults on issues such as transcultural care,
psychiatric/mental health, nutrition and health, and tobacco
prevention education.
She has received numerous awards, including the Ethelrine
Shaw-Nickerson Award from the Ohio Nurses Association
for
outstanding contributions to the promotion of minority health
and the Ohio Civil Rights Award for promoting the civil rights
of citizens of Ohio.
She was recently reappointed by
Ohio Gov. Bob Taft to a third term as a commissioner of the Ohio
Commission on Minority Health and has served as vice chairwoman
of this 18-member board. She will speak from noon to 1 p.m. in
Irvine 194, the next to last guest speaker during a month
dedicated to minority health issues.
Muņoz, who received her
doctorate in counseling education at The Ohio State University,
has focused her work on educating nurses and multicultural
health care.
Medical students, she says, as
the next generation of health-care providers, must understand
how culture shapes the patients’ and their points-of-view.
“Physicians may be
unintentionally biased,” Muņoz says. “This contributes to health
disparities. I hope students realize it is imperative to
understand race and culture when treating patients. We cannot
ignore this.”
“Persons
of color suffer from disease in disproportionately higher
numbers and experience higher mortality rates for comparable
illnesses (with whites).
The goal of every health-care provider is to provide the highest
quality of care. He or she won’t be able to do so without
understanding the (cultural and health disparity) issues that
impact health care,” she says.
She wants physicians to
understand they may likely have to deal with patients whose
“beliefs” are counter to their “knowledge.”
For instance, a patient may be
part of a culture in which “magic is used to counter medical
problems,” Muņoz says. In this situation, as others, a physician
has to listen to his or her patients and build trust in order to
better treat them.
The final speaker will be
Ronald Myers, M.D., founder, president and medical director of
Myers Foundation Christian Family Health Centers. Myers will
present “The Challenge of Providing Health Care to the Poor”
Friday, April 28.
Minority Health Month has
played host to guest lecturers, including
Transcultural C.A.R.E. Associates founder Josepha
Campinha-Bacote, Ph.D., and Ohio University Associate Professors
Eddith Dashiell, Ph.D., E. W. Scripps School of Journalism, and
Richard Greenlee, Ph.D., Department of Social Work.
- 30 -
News for
the week of
April
17
– April 22
Anderson Minority Health Month
lecture cancelled
Social Work Chairman Greenlee
continues Minority Health Month presentations with ‘Appalachian
Cultural Competence’ Tuesday at noon
H. Paul Kim, D.O. (’94), is the
final speaker for Career Medical Specialties Week
D.O.C. Awards held Wednesday evening
in Irvine 194
Annual Kenyan Children’s Fund Benefit to be held Thursday, April
20, at 6 p.m.
News for
the week of
April
10
– April 15
News for
the week of
April 3
– April 8
News Archives
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