The Role of the Family and the Community in the Clinical Setting

When providers care for immigrant patients or clients, we are usually working with human beings whose backgrounds, values, health seeking behaviors, and coping strategies strongly differ from our own. In order to accomplish our goals of reducing suffering, improving quality of life, and helping them gain or develop control over their health, we clearly need biomedical information. This must be supplemented by information about patients’ social and economic situations and their beliefs and values, as these are strongly related to their mental and physical health and our ability to provide effective care.