041. Intercultural differences and health impacts
The Pan Hellenic Congress Abstracts

041. Intercultural differences and health impacts

Vasiliki Atmatzidou

Nursery section, General Hospital “G. Papanikolaou” General Hospital, Thessaloniki, Greece


Background: Intercultural differences between patients and the health impacts on them.

Objective: To assess the role of intercultural nursing in the modern health care system.

Methods: Capturing the influence of modern lifestyle on health.

Results: The WHO in 1946 formed his own definition of health that is the most famous and the most prevalent approach to determine. According to this, health is considered as a state of complete physical, mental and social wellbeing and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity. Therefore, it is currently being discussed by experts the holistic definition of health where health is a dynamic balance between inside and outside environment that gives the person the opportunity to live creatively according to their beliefs and aspirations. From the definition just mentioned above, it can be concluded that the environmental factors that affect the physical, mental and social well-being and in general the health status of a patient, i.e. housing, nutrition, education, working conditions, the irrigation and drainage system, the economy, law and the quality of the natural environment, are offshoots of the wider culture in which they were born and grow. The effect of modern lifestyle on health is important. The lack of free time, the growing sense of selfish and anxiety lead to stressful situations. A sedentary life, the intake of precooking-food and diet type fast food leads to increased incidence of cardiovascular diseases and cancer.

Conclusions: The intercultural nursing focuses on cultural values ​​and beliefs in ways of life and uses this knowledge to provide care for specific cultural groups. Knowledge and use of cultural factors cannot be ignored, because the culture of each individual is an integral part of his life. Learning the basic principles of balanced nutrition and their application in everyday life contribute to complete physical, mental and spiritual development of the individual and remove the risk of developing several chronic diseases. The treatment and prevention of risk factors for cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, improving the detection and treatment of diseases at an early stage when interventions are highly effective, can yield significant reduction in morbidity and mortality of these diseases.

Keywords: Respiratory disease; spirometry; health impact


doi: 10.3978/j.issn.2072-1439.2015.AB041


Cite this abstract as: Atmatzidou V. Intercultural differences and health impacts. J Thorac Dis 2015;7(S1):AB041. doi: 10.3978/j.issn.2072-1439.2015.AB041

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