ABSTRACT
This chapter provides a theoretical elaboration of the relationship between culture and participation in order to shed light on how culturally sensitive health services can enable user participation in services and in daily life. Culture emerges and develops through continuous interaction and communication between individuals as they meet up through various activities in everyday life, or through the use of information and communications technology. A study showed that participation was experienced by users as 'being confident', 'comprehending' and 'seeking and maintaining a sense of control'; non-participation was experienced as 'not understanding', 'not being in control', 'lacking a relationship' and 'not being accountable'. The self-concept of individuals in individualistic cultures implies creating and maintaining a positive sense of self, an appreciation of feeling free and good about oneself, personal success, and having many unique or distinctive personal opinions as well as abstract characteristics. Culture is associated with consensus – something that is shared.
