Cultural Awareness Definition

Several definitions of cultural competence have been developed as to help people understand what it means to be culturally competent. Campina-Bacote (1998, p.6 as cited by Campinha-Bacote, (2002)) developed one definition as “the process in which the healthcare provider continuously strives to achieve the ability to effectively work within the cultural context of a client (individual, family or community)”. Campinha-Bacote (2002), considers cultural competence to be a lifelong process rather than an endpoint. It is a continuous journey of becoming culturally competent rather than being culturally competent (Campinha-Bacote, 1999). This journey involves the integration of cultural awareness, cultural knowledge, cultural skill, cultural encounter

It firstly involves being conscious of one’s own beliefs, prejudices and biases and its effect on them. Secondly it involves realisation that other cultures are socialized differently (Malone et al., 2012). Following awareness, Campinha-Bacote (2002, p.182) views cultural knowledge as “a process of seeking and obtaining a sound educational foundation about diverse cultural and ethnic groups”. The goal is to understand the client’s world view along with their physical, biological and physiological variations (Campinha-Bacote, 1999). In doing so they can ensure to provide the individualised holistic care the client

One way is through communication and that or rather lack of is the final theme highlighted from the video. Communication often presents the most significant problem in working with clients from a diverse cultural background (Campinha-Bacote, 2002). Campinha-Bacote (2002) also states how communication is how a culture is transmitted and preserved. From the very beginning of this video it was evident that neither the doctor nor any other healthcare professional had any communication with the patient about her cultural beliefs. No documentation and experiences of cultural insensitivity with food beliefs were portrayed. From a cultural knowledge point of view this was an opportunity for conscious competence, an advance from conscious incompetence. Lehman, Fenza and Hollinger-Smith (2007) in their outline of how to become more culturally aware, refer to using communication as an effective way to decrease racist attitudes. According to Campinha-Bacote (1998) conscious competence is an act of intentionally learning about a patient 's culture, verifying generalizations and providing culturally responsive interventions. Professionals can use communication as a tool to educate themselves on other beliefs and practices. In this video example, simply asking the patient about her religious and dietary requirements in her assessment would have prevented the incident occurring. Through the doctors