Salutem | Page 49

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              author) that cultural stereotypes are automatically activated independent of “the level of prejudice of the individual”! (150) An extremely prominent stereotype of Asian descendents in America is that they “are healthier than all other racial/ethnic groups in the United States (Chen et al. 336). This is simply not true, in fact, many Chinese immigrants fail to seek care (Chen et al. 338) from biomedical providers; they instead gather information from family, friends, coworkers, and internet sources as they seek to identify and/or treat their symptoms (Chen et al. 341-342). The building of trust (Chen et al. 344) between patient and provider is a key factor in the seeking of and compliance with care regardless of the type of care being sought. In fact if a traditional healer is not recommended by family or friends, does not have a proven success rate, or if he/she charges too much their services will not be sought out by the Chinese community either according to Green et al. (1506). It is estimated that 76% of Chinese immigrants between the ages of 18 and 64 currently living in the United States do not speak English (Chen et al. 336). The language barrier when combined with an overwhelmingly complex U.S. medical system (Chen et al. 336), the lack of printed Chinese materials (Chen et al. 341; Tervalon and Garcia 118), intentional and unintentional acts of insensitivity by medical personnel (Stone and Moskowitz 769), perceived and real differences between religious, cultural, and traditional values (Chen 270), and strong biological communication traits (Chia-Fang 422423) combine in a fashion that both creates and maintains common misconceptions and stereotypes. So can medical professionals overcome these ؜