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Communication and Cultural Competence 161

The community was skeptical about the mass immunization campaign because the
vaccine was coming from the Western world. This mistrust involved a belief that
the Western world was using the vaccine to control the community ’ s population growth
rate. (The religion allows polygamy.) A theory arose that a conspiracy existed between
the West and the vaccine manufacturer. This conspiracy theory made one of the state
governors in the north announce on television that parents should not take their chil-
dren to the clinics or hospitals to be immunized against polio, and parents complied.
Discuss the following questions:
1. What is polio? Expand your knowledge base on polio. Do some research about
this disease.

2. How could you dispel the conspiracy theory?
3. What publicity or marketing techniques would you embark on for a successful
polio immunization campaign after the governor ’ s TV announcement?
4. Which of the seven areas of responsibility for a health educator is most relevant
to a discussion of this case and the intervention to resolve it?
5. What communication and cultural competencies would serve as guidelines in
your intervention planning, implementation, and evaluation?
6. What are the implications of the scenario for health education practice?

KEY TERMS
Communication model Health literacy
Communication strategy Intercultural communication
Community health Language barrier
Cultural competence Marketing
Cultural identity Personal health
Cultural kinetics Social action
Enculturation Stereotyping
Health communication Structural obstacle

REFERENCES
Airhihenbuwa , C. O. ( 1995 ). Health and culture: Beyond the western paradigm. Thousand Oaks, CA : Sage .
Angell , M. ( 1989 ). New England Journal of Medicine (5 year cumulative index 1984 – 1988). Waltham, MA :
Massachusetts Medical Society .
Annas , G. J. , & Grodin , M. A. (Eds.). ( 1995 ). The Nazi doctors and the Nuremberg Code: Human rights in human
experimentation. New York : Oxford University Press .
Basch , P. F. ( 1990 ). International health. New York : Oxford University Press .
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. ( 2005 ). The Tuskegee syphilis timeline. Retrieved March 15, 2007,
from http://www.cdc.gov/nchstp/od/tuskegee/time.htm .

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