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Journal Article 9.1: Popper-Giveon, A., & Keshet, Y. (2018). The secret drama at the patient’s bedside - Refusal of treatment because of the practitioner’s ethnic identity: The medical staff’s point of view. Qualitative Health Research, 28(5), 711-720.

Abstract: Patients’ refusal of treatment based on the practitioner’s ethnic identity reveals a clash of values: neutrality in medicine versus patient-centered care. Taking the Israeli–Palestinian conflict into account, this article aims at examining Israeli health care professionals’ points of view concerning patients’ refusal of treatment because of a practitioner’s ethnic identity. Fifty in-depth interviews were conducted with 10 managers and 40 health care professionals, Jewish and Arab, employed at 11 public hospitals. Most refusal incidents recorded are unidirectional: Jewish patients refusing to be treated by Arab practitioners. Refusals are usually directed toward nurses and junior medical staff members, especially if recognizable as religious Muslims. Refusals are often initiated by the patients’ relatives and occur more frequently during periods of escalation in the conflict. The structural competency approach can be applied to increase awareness of the role of social determinants in shaping patients’ ethnic-based treatment refusals and to improve the handling of such incidents.

Journal Article 9.2: Nguyen, S. A., & McAloon, J. (2018). A cross-cultural comparison of parental perceptions of childhood separation anxiety disorder symptoms and likelihood to seek help. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 49(3), 453-469.

Abstract: This study examined cross-cultural differences in parental interpretations of childhood separation anxiety disorder (SAD) symptoms and their subsequent likelihood to seek help or advice. It also assessed level of acculturation to Western society as a potential predictor of Asian parents’ judgments of perceived pathology and likelihood to seek help. A total of 108 Caucasian and Asian parents were presented with a vignette of a child displaying behaviors indicative of SAD and asked to rate their level of perceived pathology and likelihood to seek help. Results showed that Caucasian and Asian parents gave similar ratings of perceived pathology. However, Caucasian parents reported a greater likelihood to seek help or advice for SAD symptoms than Asian parents. Level of acculturation to Western society was not a statistically significant predictor of Asian parents’ perceptions and likelihood to seek help, above and beyond the variance explained by demographic factors and level of shame associated with help seeking. Although conclusions are discussed in light of methodological limitations, these preliminary findings highlight the importance of considering cultural factors when investigating children’s access to mental health services, especially when the presenting issue is SAD.