Hand Gestures are a means by which people can communicate with each other without the use of words.  Hand gestures are used in nearly all human cultures for a variety of reasons.  One reason why hand gestures may be used is to facilitate trade over a language barrier.  Hospitals can provide an excellent example of hand gestures being used in this way.  Hospitals especially in bigger cities have to treat people from all sorts of ethnic and linguistic backgrounds.  In most cases the patient will speak the primary language of the country the hospital is located in, however, it is not unheard of for a patient to lack fluency in the local language.  Ideally, the hospital would be able to provide translators in these instances, however, this is not always possible.  Even when a hospital does have access to translators, the demand for their service cannot always be met, as is the case for some hospitals in Malaysia(Pocock,2020).  In these cases, hand gestures are employed to facilitate better communication between the patient and the service provider.  At first, it might seem odd to use a hospital as an example of trade,  usually when one thinks of trading they think of people exchanging goods at a market.  However if one expands their definition of trade to include the purchase of services, then using Hospital as an example of trade makes perfect sense.  In a hospital patients exchange money for medical services.

References

Pocock, N. (2020, April 6). Moving towards culturally competent health systems for migrants? Applying systems thinking in a qualitative study in Malaysia and Thailand. Retrieved February 27, 2024,.