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should be in linear time. It is interesting to notice that no culture is completely high-context or
low-context, since all societies contain at least some parts that are both high and low.

According to the different cultures, some countries are low context or high context or in
between low and high context cultures, cultural intelligence or cultural quotient (CQ) which is the
ability to function effectively in culturally diverse settings should be used. There are several
characteristics of CQ including respecting cultural differences, being curious about and interested
in other cultures, avoiding inappropriate stereotypes, adjusting conceptions of time and showing
patience, managing language differences to achieve shared meaning, establish trust and show
empathy across cultures, and approach cross-cultural interactions with learner mindset [1]. For
health care providers such as doctors and pharmacists, they also face intercultural communication
with patients. Therefore, strategies for working with patients in cross-cultural settings are made.
There are 5 strategies which are learning about the cultural traditions of the patients, playing close
attention to body language, lack of response, or expressiveness of anxiety that may signal that
the patients or family are in conflict but do not want to tell you, asking them open-ended
questions, remaining non judgemental, following the advice given by patients about proper ways
to help communication within families and between families and other health care providers [2].

Conclusion

Communication is very important in our daily life. Having good communication can give a
lot of benefits such as building trust to each other, creating better relationships, improving
accuracy ,effectiveness and supportiveness in many kinds of situations. Moreover, Good
communication can be very effective to humans with different backgrounds such as cultures due
to cultures being different depending on the structure and factors in the group of people, there
might be some conflicts happening among different cultures. Therefore, understanding of
intercultural communication can improve and help people from different cultures have more
understanding and also relate to pharmacy practice which can make the better relationship
between patient and pharmacist and avoid unintentional misunderstanding that may happen in
the real world practice.

References
1. Peter Cardin, Business Communication
2. Mc Laughlin, L., & Braun, K. (1998). Asian and Pacific Islander cultural values: Considerations for
health care decision-making. Health and Social Work, 23 (2), 116-126.

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