Cultural Competence Case Study

After taking the self-assessment survey for quality and culture, I would like to improve and understand how cultural competence can have a real impact on clinical outcomes. Taking from some of the questions I answered wrong, it make me wants to be cultural competent. There are a few questions I am surprised and shocked, that I answered them incorrectly. I do understand that with training, I will start to gain cultural competence but it will take consistent individual practice on my part to develop and maintain individual cultural competence. Cultural competence can lead to, health literacy, health equity, and fewer diagnostic errors, which might help the patient expand their choices and access high quality medical providers because patient

Definitions of multicultural Competence Frontline Human Service Providers, was collaboratively written by L. Caldwell, D. Tarver, D. Iwamoto, S. Herzberg, P. Cerda-Lizarraga, and T. Mack. The article was published by the journal of Multicultural Counseling and Development. This article explores different definitions provided by ninety nine different human service providers who are on the frontline serving in the helping capacity. All information they have in counseling was gain from firsthand experience. Color blindness, client focused, acknowledgement of cultural differences, textbook consistent, resources driven, skills-based, and self-integrated, are used throughout the article as terms that are frequently used to define multicultural.

Cultural Competence to me is an individual’s, professional’s, or organization’s ability to understand, work, assist, and interact with people from different cultures, ethnicities, religious beliefs, values, gender, age, other than their own. Cultural Competence means being sensitive and aware of the differences that people posses, and then educating one self on those differences to appropriately interact or help them. I believe that cultural competence is an ongoing process that is developed over time. Individuals can obtain the knowledge and skills needed to be culturally sensitive through participating in workshops and trainings, creating family, individual, and community partnerships, and working with people from different ethnic back

Part 1: Being Culturally Competent As a future clinician, being culturally competent is extremely important. The United States is comprised of diverse cultures and ethnicities. Unfortunately, each culture has its struggles and obstacles they face day to day.

Perhaps the best first step, and simplest, in response to the lack of cultural competency is for physicians in health care settings to place greater emphasis on cultural sensitivity and awareness trainings to improve treatment for Hispanics. The emphasis on this solution is an important starting point that will help increase the effectiveness of future initiatives in health care. Emphasis on cultural sensitivity and awareness is most efficacious in resolving cultural competency because the solution is both practical and simple. By providing training programs within health care settings that specifically focus on cultural sensitivity and awareness, physicians will learn to respond effectively to their Hispanic patients’ needs that show knowledge of their cultural differences. “One-size-fits all” types of prevention and treatment models cannot be applied to Hispanic patients and expect beneficial outcomes, thus “the challenge is for physicians to move beyond their belief systems and values and expand their world views to validate how others function”

It trains health care providers to overcome cultural barriers like communication and language. Cultural competency has the potential to reduce inequities in access to health care services and improve the health status of cultural communities by reducing healthcare disparities. The goal of cultural competency is to provide health care to the community that is respectful of and responsive to the needs of diverse patients. It helps the health care provider to understand the needs of patients while seeking treatment. It helps to patient-provider to meet on common ground in the diagnosis and treatment plan of the disease.

“Why is it crucial as a student to learn about cultural competency”? The reason is due to the increasing cultural diversity in the United States. This increasing cultural diversity in the United States has resulted in the national health objective proposed in Healthy People 2020: achieving the highest level of health for all people by addressing societal inequalities and “historical and contemporary injustices” (Giddens, 2013, pp. 33). The belief is that all people deserve quality health care and access to care no matter what culture the individual may be.

Cultural Competency Simply put, the United States is a diverse country. It is common knowledge that this a country founded upon immigration. Moreover, with the advancements in transportation and the growing trends toward globalization this course is more than likely to continue – barring any radical governmental intervention. That is why cultural competency is so vital, especially when it comes to healthcare. Because the sad fact is, not all ethnic groups receive the same level of care (Kittler, Sucher & Nelms, 2017).

The Spirit Catches you and you Fall Down” is an astonishing book that reveals the need for improvement of cultural competency in the American healthcare system. This book teaches me the importance of the role of healthcare administrator as a cultural advocate between the patients and the providers. This book also influences me in realizing the differences between patients’ culture and providers’ culture. Moreover, I can relate to Jeanine Hilt, a social worker who truly cares for the Hmong culture and the Lees Family. Healthcare administrators must be aware of the cultures of the population that reside in the region that your facility is located.

Measurement considerations for cultural competence may involve assessing CHWs' knowledge of cultural norms, their ability to adapt health messages and interventions to diverse populations, and their capacity to navigate cultural barriers to improve health outcomes (Agarwal et al., 2019). Health Education and Promotion: Community health workers play a critical role in providing health education and promoting healthy behaviors within their communities. Measurement considerations for this competency may include evaluating CHWs' knowledge of health topics, their ability to deliver accurate and culturally appropriate health information, and their skills in motivating community members to adopt positive health practices (Agarwal et al., 2019). Interpersonal Skills: Building trust and rapport with community members is fundamental for CHWs to effectively deliver healthcare services. Measurement considerations for interpersonal skills may involve assessing CHWs' ability to establish respectful and empathetic relationships, demonstrate empathy and compassion, and maintain confidentiality while interacting with community members (Agarwal et al.,

The way a person thinks about health, “whether that is our ‘philosophy’, our ‘worldview’, our ‘framework’ influences what we do as individuals in practice,” as well as how we deliver the health service. These elements allow us to think about healthcare in our own culturally acceptable way, this isn’t always an acceptable way of delivering the service to people with views different to our own. Cultural competence is an approach that aids in influencing the service and the education of healthcare professionals. (Taylor, K., & Guerin, P., 2010). Cultural competence is defined as a knowledge and understanding of cultures, histories and contemporary realities and awareness of protocols, combined with the proficiency to engage and work effectively in a cultural context congruent to the expectations of the people of that culture.

Cultural competency: Indians Culture competency is defined as one has the knowledge, the abilities and the skill to deliver care congruent with the patient’s cultural beliefs and practices (Purnell, 2013). As a nurse or a health care provider, increasing ones consciousness of culture diversity improves the possibilities for health care practitioners to provide competent care (Purnell, 2013). Nurses and all health care providers should be aware of other cultures to provide the best care that they can for that individual. Developing a relationship with diverse cultural groups involves good interpersonal skills and the application of knowledge and techniques learned from the physical, biological, and social sciences as well as the humanities (Purnell, 2013). I am choosing to select the Indian culture for my first assignment.

The world is a diverse population, with people coming from various ethnic and cultural backgrounds. A person’s views, values, and traditions determine their daily needs and practices. So, healthcare providers face certain challenges and restrictions because a patient’s belief may inhibit professionals from providing the most effective care. Therefore, cultural competence is an important idea for healthcare providers to consider when understanding and respecting patients. Balcazar, Suarez-Balcazar, and Taylor-Ritzler (2009) noted in “Cultural competence:

Hallmarks of cultural competence, including role development and self-discovery, play an instrumental part in the cultural diversity within an organization as a whole. Diversity stems from the top, from CEO’s and executive boards, and trickles down to employees and patients. However, one thing I learned in this course is that people hold biases that they are unaware of and that cultural competence does not happen overnight. With this acquired knowledge, it has been brought to my attention about which implicit biases I hold and how I can work to eliminate them. Secondly, language access services, as an aspiring speech-language pathologist, play a direct role in my future career because I want to give a voice to the often misunderstood.

To be culturally competent is to respect multiple cultural ways of knowing, seeing and living, to celebrate the benefits of diversity and to have an ability to understand and honour difference (DEEWR, 2009, p. 16). To me cultural competency is having the ability to be aware of, mindful, understanding and respectful of the vast and rich range of culture around me and within the settings in which I educate. Cultural competence is also much more that just being aware of the diversity around us, it is about being open-minded and incorporating culture, difference and diversity into the curriculums in which we develop, and celebrating these differences with others. Cultural competence aims to bring different cultures together in interactions which build positive relationships and attitudes about the differences that set each culture apart, and to honour and celebrate the diversity among ourselves.