I've read about various taboos in different culture in so many books and there are warnings over and over that we should go easy obtaining the social part of history, but I thought people were just over-sensitive so I always ask them in a review kind of way. Got an especially strong response from a Punjabi today when I was asking a typical smoker/non-smoker question. She had a drastic emotional changes, got up from the bed and went "how could you ask questions like this?" I was stunned. I seemed to remember something from a book I read about how to tackle situations like this just in case you accidentally offended them, so I went on explaining about the risk factors of IHD and how the doctors put so much emphasis on those history, and she was okay. Never knew those part of script (sry these questions are sensitive, bla bla bla) was so necessary till I met her today. Morale: Never disregard the culture component of social history.

0 Comments