Purpose of CulturedMed:

"CulturedMed" at the Peter J.Cayan Library at SUNYIT is a web site and a resource center of print materials promoting culturally-competent health care for refugees and immigrants.

This project provides support to the health care community and newcomers to our country by providing practical information regarding culture and health care from both viewpoints.

What's on this site?

The bibliographies and links to relevant online resources found on the web site contain items that discuss health beliefs or ethnographic information about various ethnic groups. All entries are in English. In general, my interest is in the diverse health beliefs of various cultures, and the cross-cultural interactions between health care providers and patients.

All of our assumptions are cultural. Since culture impacts everything we think and do, topical bibliographies such as the cultural aspects of food and nutrition, domestic violence and culture, and cultural aspects of death and dying are also included. Bibliographies may also contain items dealing with culture-bound syndromes, medical anthropology, and traditional or folk medicine.

More bibliographies will be added as time permits. Currently there are about 9,000 citations. There are 110 other sites that link to us at CulturedMed. If you would like to see a list of who links to us, click here.

The three bibliographies that were initially posted to the CulturedMed web site in 1998, were about the first refugee groups to settle in the Mohawk Valley in upstate New York since 1975: the Vietnamese, the Russians, and the Bosnians. The latest arrivals are from African countries that have experienced recent civil unrest such as the Sudan, Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Somalia. The Utica, New York area is home to 10,000 refugees. Additionally, there are about 5,000 non-English speaking Hispanics, mostly from Puerto Rico.

We are open to the public.

Cayan Library at SUNYIT, houses a research center containing relevant print materials and is open to the public. However, not all materials listed on the web bibliographies are owned by the library.

We are also certainly happy to share what we do own through the usual interlibrary loan system. See your local academic, medical, or public librarian for assistance.

Who am I?

This web site was initiated and is updated periodically by Jacquelyn Coughlan, M.S., M.L.S., at the Cayan Library in Utica, NY. I am deeply committed to cross-cultural understanding between all people and believe this understanding is especially important in the arena of health care. I have co-taught classes in the School of Nursing at SUNYIT about Culturally Competent health care issues.

Special thanks for the generous assistance of my colleague Ron Foster, M.L.S. Also many thanks for the hard work of Lisa Sarner, Zoe Sionnach, Jillaine Burnham, Rishi Mehta, Upasana Raina, Charu Swaroop and Danielle Seigers.

Contact Information:

Jacquelyn Coughlan
Librarian, SUNYIT Cayan Library

jackie@sunyit.edu
phone: 315-792-7250
fax: 315 792-7517

Where are we located?

CulturedMed is at the SUNY Institute of Technology, one of the 64 campuses of the State University of New York. We are located in the Peter J. Cayan Library, Rt.12 N., Utica New York, 13504.

Utica is a small city in upstate New York that has a population of 68,637. The Mohawk Valley Resource Center for Refugees (MVRCR) in Utica, is the largest affiliate in the Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service (LIRS). Since its inception in 1975, 10,000 refugees have been resettled here.

This has imposed an added burden on the public health department and social service agencies which were suddenly expected to care for them. This was further complicated by the fact that most are either non-English speakers or Limited-Proficiency Speakers of English. Utica was one of the first places in the country to train professional medical interpreters using the best practices available at the time and training is still ongoing.

Funding:

Initial funding for a six week project was provided by a PDQWL (Professional Development and Quality of Working Life) grant from the United University Professions in May 1998 and has continued from that time forward as a labor of love.

Where has CulturedMed been cited?

Print Resources:

Boyle, M. (2003). Community nutrition in action, an entrepreneurial approach. 3rd ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.

Colon, E.J. (2001). Culturally competent care in the NICU. AWHONN Lifelines, 5(5),60-64.

Galanti, G. A. (2004). Caring for Patients from Different Cultures (3rd ed.) Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press.

Goodridge, E. (2002). Meeting the health needs of refugees and immigrants. Journal of the Academy of Physicians Assistants, 15(1): 20-32.

Mangan, P. (2003). Web watch. British Journal of Nursing, 12, 549.

Sobralski, M. (2002). Selected Internet sites for transcultural health questions. Journal of the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners, 14(3), 98-99.

Portnoy, E. (Summer-Fall 2001). CulturedMed: SUNY's Rx for better refugee care.
The Bridge (a SUNYIT publication), 2(1):10-11.

Online Journals:

(2002, Sept. 1). Targeted references on palliative care in African American communities. [Electronic Version]. Innovations in End-of-Life care: an International Journal of Leaders in End-of-Life Care. Retrieved May 15, 2005, from
http://www2.edc.org/lastacts/archives/archivesSept01/readmore.asp

Campinha-Bacote, J. (January 31, 2003). Many faces: Addressing diversity in health care.
Online Journal of Issues in Nursing. Retrieved May 5, 2005, from http://www.nursingworld.org/ojin/topic20/tpc20_2.htm

Pennachio, D. (July 9, 2004). Resources for culturally competent care of Chinese, Japanese, & Korean patients. Medical Economics, 81. Retrieved May 15, 2005 from
http://www.memag.com/memag/article/articleDetail.jsp?id=108993

Pennachio, D. (Feb. 4, 2005). Resources for culturally competent care of black patients. Medical Economics. Retrieved May 5, 2005, from http://www.memag.com/memag/content/printContentPopup.jsp?id=143830

Pennachio, D. (May 6, 2005). Resources for culturally competent care of Muslim patients. Medical Economics. Retrieved May 15, 2005 from http://www.memag.com/memag/article/articleDetail.jsp?id=156420

Rankow, V. (2003, May-June). Foreign language patient information, online resources. [Electronic Version]. Long Island Library Resources Council, Health Line, 3 (16): 1-4. Retrieved May 18, 2005, from http://www.lilrc.org/newsletter/hlspv16n3.pdf

Online textbook:

Edman, J. (2002). Immigrant and Refugee Health-Domestic Policy Implications, Unmet Needs and Future Trends. In Public Health Management & Policy (electronic textbook). Case Western Reserve. Retrieved May 18, 2005, from
http://www.cwru.edu/med/epidbio/mphp439/MPH_Manage.htm

Full-text online documents:

(2000, January). Resources. Closing the Gap, a Newsletter of the Office of Minority Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Retrieved May 18, 2005, from http://mentalhealth.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?site=http://www.omhrc.gov/OMH/sidebar/omh%2Dpublications.htm

(2001, Summer). Women's health and diversity: part 2. The Canadian Women's Health Network. 4 (3):10. Retrieved May 18, 2005, from http://www.cwhn.ca/network-reseau/4-3/4-3pg11.html

Bancroft, M.A. and Goldin, G.L. (2003). Overcoming Language Barriers Part II: For Administrators: A Volunteers in Health Care Guide. Pawtucket, RI: Volunteers in Health. Retrieved May 18, 2005, from http://www.volunteersinhealthcare.org/Manuals/VIH.Lang.Barr2.manual.pdf

Center for Healthcare Quality, UQIOSC Underserved Quality Improvement Organization Support Center. (July 2004). Culturally Appropriate Resources. Retrieved May 18, 2005, from
http://www.qsource.org/HDS/CulturallyAppropriateResources7-04.pdf

The Cross Cultural Health Care Program(CCHCP). (2003).Cross cultural resources: Focus: Death and dying. Retrieved May 18, 2005, from http://www.xculture.org

Emergency Nurses Association. (2003). Position Statement, Diversity in Emergency Care.
Retrieved May 18, 2005, from
http://www.ena.org/about/position/pdfs/diversity-in-emergency-care.pdf

Fernandez, L. (2003). The Immigrant Experience: Caring for Patients New to this Country. Conference presentation for the Society of Internal Medicine. Vancouver. Retrieved May 18, 2005, from http://www.sgim.org/AM03Handouts/PW03.pdf

Kukanesen, K. (2003, May). Female headed households in BiH. United Nations in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Report, Office of the Resident Coordinator, 1-20. Retrieved May 18, 2005, from http://www.undp.ba/publicationsdownloadnc.asp?iditem=9&version=eng

Summit Health Institute for Research and Education. (2005). Giving voices to the voiceless: Language barriers & health access issues of black immigrants of African descent. Retrieved October 17, 2005, from http://www.calendow.org/reference/publications/pdf/cultural/TCE0121-2005_Voices_of_the_.pdf

University of Maryland, Center for School Mental Health Assistance (2001). Cultural Competency Resource Packet. Retrieved July 30, 2004, from
http://www.cimh.unimelb.edu.au/links/psychologists/culturehealth.html