Ethnicity and culture
Ethnicity and culture are complex terms and although these concepts are explored in depth in Chapter 3 it is helpful to define them here. Ethnicity is a term used to categorise group based on cultural characteristics such as shared ancestry, religion or language. Race is a term used to distinguish biologically between group. Culture can reflect both of these concepts and is a ‘system of shared understanding that shapes and, in turn, is shaped by experience’ (Caprio et al., 2008:2214).
It has been acknowledged that individual needs of minority ethnic group are not always met adequately in the health promotion context. Problems linked with stereotyping behaviours and beliefs may be prevalent and recognition of traditional practices and beliefs may be important to communicating with some group. Different culture beliefs can also mean that traditional Western forms of communicating health information are inadequately designed(Povlsen et al.,2005) and therefore do not have the desired impact on the target group. Language barriers in particular are important in health promotion work. They can contribute to poor health communication and present a disparity between those who can speak the predominant language and those who cannot