There are many barriers in health communication. I will try to explain four of them and try to give an example of each.
One of them is a person’s nationality. With each nationality there are different cultures. Some of these cultures can prevent them from receiving certain care. There cultures may prevent them from having certain types of examinations by members of the opposite sex. An example is a pregnant Arabian woman would not allow a male doctor to exam her. This could cause some major problems not to be found during the pregnancy until it is too late.
A person’s lifestyle can be a barrier also. People are often scared that people are going to judge them according to their lifestyle. A woman who is a “party” girl might be scared her doctor will think she is a “skank” or a whore if she contracts an STD. She might not want to divulge all the information about her situation.
People have several reasons to think that their health would be a barrier when they communicate with their doctor. An overweight person who is having problems with their back may feel that all the doctor would see is a “fat” person who needs to lose some weight. This could cause the patient not to tell the doctor all their symptoms.
A persons educational status can be a two edged sword in communication with their health care official. A person with little or no education may not understand the importance of the instructions that their doctor gives them. This could cause their illness to linger or get worse. A person with a lot of education may try to self diagnose themselves and think they know better than the health care provider. They may decide not to take the medication or participate in the therapy the doctor wants them to do because they think their way would be better which will cause them more problems later.
Patients with disabilities should be talked to the same way you would anyone else unless they are deaf. People with...