Italy: Cultural Differences In American Culture

Have you ever wondered how much different other countries cultures are from our American culture? Health care providers have to be aware of these differences, because we will work with a vast amount of cultures and in order to provide the best care for our patients we need to be aware and accepting of those differences. Italian culture is similar in ways to Americas, but like any other culture there are still differences. Working with people of a different culture and lifestyle than us can be difficult. “Italy’s history goes back a couple of thousand years; one of the first civilizations to flourish was that of the Etruscans, between the eighth and second centuries BC”(Italy: History, 2015). “Italian peninsula later became the center of Italy’s

culture and that is where most of Italian culture originates from”(Italy: History, 2015). However, being aware of cultural differences will help us get around the culture block and allow us to communicate with our patients that are not from the same culture as us.
Italy’s main language is Italian, but the dialects tend to differ across the country from city to city. English is actually the second most common language in Italy most of their youths speak English as their primary language. Therefore, if English becomes more prominent amongst Italian youths it will make it easier for Americans to communicate with Italians. “Eighty percent of Italians are christians, and the majority are roman catholic, although most do not participate on a regular basis”(Italy: Religion, 2015). Italians take their meals and food seriously they consider it a means of joy “for Italians food is not merely a means for survival. Food defines us”(Italian food culture, n.d.). Italians are known for their Italian food and how good it is. “Italians meals usually consist of two courses primo And second. Primo is the first course and it consists of a pasta, risotto, or soup like minestrone. Second course is called second and it consists of meat or fish with a countless amount of side dishes”(Italian food culture, n.d.). Furthermore, just like there is diversity in dialects across Italy it also occurs in Italian food as well. “Traveling from the north to the south you experience a vast amount of different dishes”(Italian food culture, n.d.), because of the diversity their is in italy’s regions “different dishes even the simple ones change with the traditions that are particular to certain regions”(Italian food culture, n.d.). Example of this is “in the north you can try polenta which is a dish made with corn flour, but you will hardly find it in the southern regions”(Italian food culture, n.d.). Italian culture differs from their different regions we have discovered that by just looking at their language and how dialects can change, and the diversity in food amongst the regions as well.
Family in Italy is very important they “enjoy strong family ties, and when being together or helping each other is possible, they honor their family obligations”(Italy:Family, 2015). Italians are family oriented children grow up to work in family businesses. Italian children are very dedicated to their parents, and they tend to live at home as young adults. Parents help their children buy a house or an apartment even if it means financial struggle for them. Men and women roles are basically swapped from the man and woman role in America. Italy is largely-male dominated, and the men expect the women take care of them. Likewise, this leads to the women being the support system for the families. Women are the ones who complete an education. They not only complete an education, but also compete in professional environments, cook, clean, and care for their families. Women in Italy are the support system for their families. “Family and general roles are also influenced by age and socioeconomic class; young husbands and wives in middle to upper-class families are more likely to share domestic responsibilities”(Italy : Family, 2015). Gender role in Italy can change depending on the family and social class, but for the most part the women support their families.
Italians communication style “tends to be gregarious, expressive, and animated”(Italy:communication style, n.d.).

Italians are loud boisterous people they are expressive and animated when they speak. “Interruptions are to be expected when carrying on a conversation with an Italian, and there is rarely a moment of silence in fact they tend to become uncomfortable when their is silence”(Italy:communication style, n.d.). Appropriate conversation to talk about with Italians “in the workplace include Italian history, architecture, art and culture, sports, food and wine, and current events”(Italy:communication style, n.d.). They do not like to talk about “religion, politics or the Mafia these are considered to be a negative stereotype, but they are quite keen to speak about their families”(Italy:communication style, n.d.). Italy shares most of the popular holidays like christmas and new years, but they also have holidays that are particular to their Italian culture. Italian holidays include “The Epiphany which is one of Italy’s popular holidays it is celebrated on the sixth of January and it originally symbolizes the birth of christ. It is considered to be the end of the Christmas season: it is, literally the twelfth day of christmas”(Holidays in Italy, n.d.). “Epifania tutte le feste porta via is the saying, and it roughly translates to Epiphany takes all the holidays away”(Holidays in Italy, n.d.). Italy has many different holidays that they celebrate in their country such as: Liberation day, May Day, Festival of the Republic, Ferragosto, All Saints and all Souls’ day, The Immaculate Conception, Feast of St. Stephan, and many other feast days that are important to Italian culture. Italian traditions consist of going to festivals, and celebrating their culture, and

saints.
Italian health care services are coordinated through government agencies. Families can choose who they want their family physician to be and in most cases the government pays for services. Families can choose if they would rather have private care for their family, but they must pay for that private care the government will not support it. Italians believe that after death the person’s soul never leaves the earth and they might wish to come back. “Rituals are performed to allow the deceased to leave the earth successfully, such as burying them with their favorite objects. Italians do not speak of the dead once the mourning period is over in fear of summoning the dead back to earth”(Italian Funeral Traditions, n.d.). Italians are starting to see an increase of health issues and Italy’s ANSA news agency reported that “they are all directly related to diet and lack of exercise are: high cholesterol, hypertension, respiratory illness, type 2 diabetes, and obesity”(Italians seeing increase in health issues, n.d.). Higher Health Institute, “found that one in ten Italians are obese and twenty-five percent of the country’s population suffer from elevated cholesterol levels”(Italians seeing increase in health issues, n.d.) They also reported that “poor diet, smoking and drinking are more prevalent in central and southern Italy”(Italians seeing increase in health issues, n.d.).
Healthcare providers need to consider the different ways that Italians communicate and greet each other. We need to try and do the same so when we treat them we can be considerate. Italians are personal people they do not mind physical touch they do not have a sense of personal space. When engaging in a conversation with an Italian they usually stand quite close to you. When Italians begin to feel an emotional attachment like a friend they are not shy to greet you with a kiss. Handshakes though are the most common greeting just like in America, but Italians expect you to shake every ones hand that is in their group. They Expect you to have direct eye contact with them at all times and if not they consider you to be untrustworthy or that you are trying to hide something. Showing affection in public is common in fact, Italians think that if you do not show affection you are just disinterested and considered unprofessional. Health care providers must be considerate and aware of Italians ways of communication because, you want to make the environment as comfortable for your patient as possible. Being aware of their culture and lifestyle will allow you to get passed the culture block, and allow you to communicate with them just like you would if you were treating a patient of your own culture.
My family is from Italy so my mom’s grandma my great grandma actually lived in Italy when she was little, but later my great grandma’s dad moved his family to America. My Aunt interviewed my great grandma in February of 87 before she died. She interviewed her about lifestyle in Italy and the transition from Italy to America. I used her Interview as my personal Interview for this paper. It was really cool to heat my great grandma talk about her life and things she went to. It let me have a chance to hear my great grandma because she died before I was born so I never got to meet her. My great grandma’s dad moved his family to America for better opportunities she said he moved so he could be rich. My great grandma was only six years old when they came over on the boat. She was scared of the water and the people in America scared her as well at first. Her first memory here was seeing a banana for the first time because she had never seen one before and it was something new. My great grandma only lived in Italy for the first few years of her life so she talked more about her life here. I enjoyed listening to it and hearing about her trip to America.
Italian healthcare and American healthcare is kinda similar but there are differences that need to be remembered when treating a patient so you do not offend them. Even though there are differences in ours and Italy’s Culture and lifestyle we can still get around the culture block and communicate with them. Yes their is a barrier but if we try our best to accept their culture we can treat them just like we would treat anyone from our culture. In fact, when you are aware of the potential culture block and know the differences you do not see your patient as someone from another culture. They are just like any other patient you would treat that is from America.