Accultured Norms

This chapter looks at the importance of understanding the many cultural differences that exist between different groups and in different contexts around the world. Without a sensitivity to such differences, wars can be lost and positive influences minimized. These differences include the existence of high-context versus low-context societies, differing hierarchical approaches to power and authority, collectivist versus individualist societies, differing emotion expression/recognition, gender differences, differing evidencing of empathy, face preferences, and communication styles. Lack of cultural attunement to these issues can exacerbate misunderstandings and conflicts, unless understood and factored into difficult strategies and dialogues.

Cultural Adaptation of Physical Activity Self-Report Instruments

Context:The validity of physical activity (PA) self-report measures can be a problem when using these measures with target populations that differ from the population for which the measures were originally developed.Objectives:Describe an approach to further tailor PA self-report measures to a target community, and report on focus group and cognitive interview findings.Process:Topics relevant to culturally tailoring measures are discussed, including translation, focus groups, and cognitive interviews. We describe examples from our own work, including focus groups and cognitive interviews conducted to assess Latinos’ interpretations of PA questions derived from various epidemiological surveys that were developed in White communities.Findings:Findings from focus groups and cognitive interviews provide valuable information about the comprehension, interpretation, and cultural relevance of the PA questions to Latino communities.Conclusions:It is recommended that investigators collect formative data to better assess the equivalence of items being applied to a different cultural group. Guidelines for cultural attunement of self-report instruments are described to promote more uniform and rigorous processes of adaptation and facilitate cross-cultural investigations.

Respecting Culture and Honoring Diversity in Community Practice

Nurses work with individuals, families, groups, and communities where lives are enriched and challenged by cultural diversity. The purpose of this article is to discuss challenges and strategies for respecting culture and honoring diversity. This article diverges from the traditional nursing practice of working with individuals to working with collectives, to community practice beyond individuals and families, beyond community as context, to community as client. Culture and ethnicity are defined to set the stage for discussion of theory and its application to practice. Acculturation theory is explored through comparisons of the Canadian mosaic and American melting pot. Cultural competence, cultural attunement, and cultural humility are examined, and recommendations for effective community practice in working with groups and organizations are shared.