Health-related quality of life and culture.
OBJECTIVE
To clarify the relationship between quality of life (QOL) and culture.


METHODS
Journal articles, proceedings, and clinical experience.


CONCLUSIONS
QOL is a subjective, multidimensional experience of well-being that is culturally constructed as individuals seek safety and security, a sense of integrity and meaning in life, and a sense of belonging in one's social network.


CONCLUSIONS
In a society where health disparities between diverse groups are known to exist, it is incumbent upon nurses to consider the impact of ethnicity/culture on the health care they deliver and on the QOL of their patients.
Kagawa-Singer
Marjorie
M
Department of Asian American Studies, University of California Los Angeles, School of Public Health, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1772, USA.
Padilla
Geraldine V
GV
Ashing-Giwa
Kimlin
K
D001294:Attitude to Health / Q000208:ethnology*; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D018864:Cultural Diversity; D055318:Evidence-Based Nursing; D005086:Existentialism / Q000523:psychology; D054624:Health Status Disparities; D054625:Healthcare Disparities; D006801:Humans; D016294:Models, Nursing; D008960:Models, Psychological; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000208:ethnology / Q000451:nursing; D015399:Nursing Research / Q000639:trends*; D009859:Oncology Nursing / Q000639:trends*; D011788:Quality of Life / Q000523:psychology*; D012933:Social Identification; D029181:Spirituality; D013240:Stereotyping; D016746:Transcultural Nursing / Q000639:trends; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology