title: Providing health care to human beings trapped in the poverty culture.
abstract: The culture of poverty impacts everything patients in this socioeconomic group think and do. If what poor patients say does not sit well with the way we think, that doesn't mean they are wrong. Physicians have to adjust their mental model and think in different cultural terms. The author recently completed his thirtieth year of a career dedicated to providing health care to people living in poverty. He shares seven concepts important in building a mental model that will enable physicians to successfully provide health care to this patient population: (1) Poverty is the number one health problem; (2) we see same diseases as everyone else; (3) patients are trapped in the poverty culture; (4) patients' behavior is often manipulative; (5) compliance is a unique challenge; (6) patients have limited resources; and (7) the ultimate contributors to poverty are unwanted adolescent pregnancy and substance abuse. These concepts can help physicians to be more effective in providing health care to patients living in poverty. They can help them understand what is happening, so that their experience might be fulfilling rather than demoralizing.
authors.affiliation: Mercy Health System of Chicago, USA. dbenson@mercy-Chicago.org
authors.forename: D S
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Benson
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D001294:Attitude to Health / Q000208:ethnology*; D018864:Cultural Diversity; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008257:Machiavellianism; D010349:Patient Compliance / Q000523:psychology*; D010817:Physician-Patient Relations; D010820:Physicians / Q000523:psychology*; D011203:Poverty / Q000523:psychology*; D011247:Pregnancy; D011253:Pregnancy in Adolescence / Q000523:psychology; D011275:Pregnancy, Unwanted / Q000523:psychology; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000523:psychology