When working with patients from different cultures, obtaining the information you need to make a diagnosis and recommend a successful treatment plan can be very challenging. Complete and accurate information is essential since providers are more likely to miss a diagnosis when the medical history is incomplete. It is also important to understand the patient's perception of the illness, in order to develop common expectations of the treatment course and outcomes. There are several useful techniques that providers can use to elicit the patients perspective on his or her illness. It is important that such techniques do not bias the patient's response toward what the provider expects to hear.
1. Understand the importance of including the patient's perspective on his/her illness.
2. Learn the kind of questions that can be asked to elicit the patient's perception of the illness.
