Family and social history
Dialogue between Doctor and patient.
This dialogue is about intercultural aspects of sharing personal information. The extent to which people feel at ease in sharing personal information with strangers varies between cultures. Exchanging personal information and inquiring about the other person’s personal background may be seen as an act of courtesy or as an intrusion. Difficulties can arise when expectations are at variance or due to a different understanding of social roles.
Having already asked the patient a number of questions about their medical history, the doctor comes to the final set of questions on family history. The patient, Mohammed Alsuwaidi, is a middle-aged man from an Arab country. The conversation takes place at the patient’s home.
German (Deutsch) |
English |
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| Doctor: | Um Ihnen so gut wie möglich zu helfen, benötigen wir ein paar Informationen bezüglich Ihrer familiären Situation und Krankenvorgeschichte. [der Arzt fragt nach der Anzahl von Brüdern und Schwestern sowie nach Töchtern und Söhnen des Patienten] | To be able to give you the best treatment possible, we’d like to know more about your medical family history. [the doctor asks about the number of brothers and sisters the patient has and also how many male and female children he has] |
| Mohammed: | Herr Doktor… Sie müssen wissen, meine zwei jüngsten Kinder und meine Frau haben mich zum Glück hierher begleitet, doch meine beiden ältesten Söhne konnten nicht mitkommen… Belgien ist zu weit entfernt. | Well, yes, doctor, you know, fortunately my two youngest children and my wife came with me, but my two eldest sons could not… Belgium is too far away… |
| Doctor: | Leben alle Ihre Geschwister noch? | Are all your brothers and sisters still alive? |
| Mohammed: | Ja, zum Glück geht es Ihnen gut. Hoffentlich wird sich dies auch nicht änden. Wir sind eine große Familie mit so vielen Angehörigen, um die man sich kümmern muss. Leider konnten sie mich nicht alle begleiten… Haben Sie Kinder? | Thank God, they are all alive and well. Hopefully they will stay so. We are a big family, so many members to care for, unfortunately they could not come all with me… Do you have children? |
| Doctor: | Ähhh... noch nicht. Kommen wir nun zu... | Ehm, no, not yet. So, let’s see… |
| Mohammed: | Nein? Aber Sie sind ja auch noch jung. Sind Sie verheiratet? | No? Oh, well, but you are still young. Are you married? |
| Doctor: | Ja, ok. Lassen Sie uns weitermachen... | OK. So, let’s see… |
| Mohammed: | Ah, gut. Sie werden sehen… | Ah, that’s fine, so you will see… |
| Doctor: | Ja, ja. Gut. Vielen Dank. Bitte, lassen Sie uns fortfahren. Können Sie mir sagen, ob Angehörige Ihrer Familie irgendwelche gesundheitlichen Probleme haben? | Yes, yes, OK. Thank you. Please, let us proceed. Can you tell me if any members of your family have any issues with their health? |
Intercultural comment
In many cultures, such as those in Muslim, Mediterranean, Eastern-European and Latin American countries, it is important to establish a good personal relationship in order to ensure confidence and trust. To ask about the family is a good means of achieving that. This is why the patient in the dialogue starts to talk about his family and tries to involve the doctor in a private conversation. He misunderstands the aim of the conversation which, from the doctor’s perspective, is not primarily to establish common ground, but rather to learn more about the patient’s background in order to reach a correct diagnosis.
Because of his cultural background, the doctor would probably only feel at ease discussing matters relating to his private life with close friends and would certainly not expect such questions in a work environment.