ABSTRACT

In traditional  and pluralistic  societies  like Pakistan,  health  care  system  needs  to be  sensitive towards  the  religious  and  cultural  norms  of the  patients.  If  such  cultural  sensitivities  are overlooked,  the resultant  cultural  discordancy  between the doctor  and the patient  may lead to poor diagnosis and patient dissatisfaction.   Although a lot of work has focused on doctor-patient relation, the available literature overlooks the cultural  influence on the effective  communication in the given medical dyad. Hence, the objective of this study is to fill the gap in literature and analyze the cultural effects on medical  interaction between the female patients and male doctor. This  explanatory  study  therefore,  seeks  to  build  on the  available  literature  of the  effects  of gender-discordancy  on interaction between patient and physician and explore further the aspect of culture effects on female patients and male doctors.

By applying thematic analysis framework to the data,  the research analyses the cultural  barriers or challenges  faced by the female patients  in the primary health care units. A field study was conducted  on  primary  health  care  centers  in  the  district  of Peshawar  and  information  was gathered  using  purposive  sampling,  from  male  doctors,  female  patients  and  medical  staff available  in  the  basic  health  centers.  The  study  found  that  majority  of patients  visiting  the primary health care centers are females whereas the doctors available on duty are mostly male. Culture as an over-abiding  factor makes it challenging  for the female patients to get access to health  services  with  male  doctors.  This  situation  leads to patients  getting  treated  at parallel informal health sector by untrained healthcare providers. Since these primary health centers are established as first line care facilities for mother and child, it is essential that a certified female physician  should be available  at these BHUs to cater to health needs of the local  people.  It is thus,  strongly  desired  that the concerned  health  authorities  and the  government  be sensitized towards the cultural  norms and values of the local  people and provide them with basic health needs that could deliver better health results and improve health status of women.