Beliefs, Values and Intercultural Communication

This chapter explores intercultural communication in the health and social care setting. It is written from a psychological perspective and explores some of the variables that are central to the topic of intercultural communication. Little of the current health and social care literature in Britain has addressed the issue of intercultural communication. This chapter argues that understanding minority communication styles and patterns is indispensable for health care workers working with ethnic minority groups. Euro-American cultural values have dominated the social sciences and have been accepted as universal. It attempts to articulate from a cross-cultural perspective, a precise framework in which to view and define the diverse factors at work during intercultural communication. It focuses on the concepts of belief and value and the impact they have on the communicator’s behaviour in intercultural communication.