Health care communication ethics is "the study of communication practices within the broad domain of health care, from patient/professional interaction to institutional communication questions about health" (192). In other words, health care communication is looking at how people in the medical field navigate and interact with people in the workplace and clients. The main point of the health care system is to provide assistance or care to someone in need. However, depending on the culture, the health care system can be very different amongst different groups of people. In addition, care has a variety of meanings and many people will view what it means to be caring differently. In other words, culture is a big factor when looking at health care systems and why they are set up a certain way.
Next, with the variety of health care systems in the world, the variations of what care is are endless. For example, in a lot of European countries, a universal health care system is a popular system that seems to work well. However, in the U.S. the health care system is set up much differently and people have to pay for health insurance or have a very big bill. When one considers all the cultural factors would it be possible for the U.S. to have a universal health care system like Europe? Typically speaking, in the U.S. people define care as providing some form of assistance to another person. However, a lot of people are against a universal health care system because they don't want taxes to go up. It is ironic that people see money as something that is more important than someone's health and possibly their own health. When looking at American culture, money is an important and valuable aspect that many people see as a status symbol. Hence, the characteristics of the U.S. culture display why the health care system is the way it is, not eliminating the fact that it could change. Finally, culture is a large factor that contributes to health care systems along with peoples values within that culture. The important thing to remember is that a lot can be learned by studying other cultures and a lot of knowledge can be gained.
You bring up a great point about how culture affects the way we understand health care. As you said, the US doesn't have universal health care which can complicate how patients see doctors or doctors see patients. It would be interesting to see if doctors working under universal health care institutions get paid the same as US doctors get paid. I wonder if the amount of money one receives for the care they provide affects how well they are willing to connect and how much they care about the patients health. On the other hand, I wonder if the fact that patients do pay more for health care in the US affects how well they trust their doctor.
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