Essay On Cultural Competence

The author, John H. Barnhill, holds a Ph. D. in American History from Oklahoma State

Cultural competence means working respectfully and effectively with all children, their families, team members and the community. It means being aware of your own values, beliefs, practices and prejudices and the influence this can have on your decision making. It means continual reflection on your work practices and working towards a better understanding and respect for all cultures. Being culturally competent also means being aware of dominant and minority cultures and the affect this has on the community and adapting your ways to interact with the children and families to make them feel safe, secure and supported (EYLF Outcome 1- Children have a strong sense of identity).

America is filled with increasing diversity, though this may bring an abundance of possibilities through interacting with other ethnic groups, it also comes with many problems. These problems are particularly for those who are in the health care system whether you are a health care provider, social worker or nurse. The challenge at hand is about cultural competence. Cultural competence is the ability to adequately provide the linguistic and ethical needs of your patient. (Horevitz et al) (2013) Explore the many benefits of cultural competence and how the health care system can alleviate many problem such as disparities when they have cultural awareness. A way that providers can overcome cultural barriers is by simply become knowledgeable about the cultural group the patient belongs to. When a health care system requires for their members to learn about the values, beliefs and history of several cultures they will not only have an appreciation and respect for those cultures, but have awareness of how important it is to have cultural competence. (Horevitz et al) (2013) Koreans originally immigrated to the United States and settled in Hawaii. They soon traveled elsewhere because of harsh work conditions.The moved to other cities, establishing businesses and decent lives for themselves in the United States.Like

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.

One of the most integral parts of cultural competency is the process of successfully becoming culturally competent. After synthesizing available research on the topic I have constructed four main steps in becoming culturally competent. Those include self-awareness, understanding various aspects of the culturally diverse population for whom you care for, practice evidence based medicine as it relates to culturally diverse populations and continuing education (Kodjo, 2009; Purnell, 2012).

Cultural competency is found within different settings however, the setting which will be discussed in this paper will apply to a school setting. A school setting is where social workers “enhance the social and emotional growth and academic outcomes of all students” (SSWAA, n.d.). Furthermore, social workers not only work with students but also, work with parents, school administration, food department, special needs department, and school health services (nursing department). In conclusion, in this paper the culturally competent social work practice of working with the Latino community will be further discussed and analyzed.

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

Cultural competence is very important in providing patient care. Culturally competent providers should understand and respect the patient’s beliefs, values, and behaviors, and develop a treatment or care based on the patient’s specific needs. Being a healthcare professional requires you not only to assess, diagnose, and make a treatment plan, but also take into account patient’s beliefs and perception of their health-related issues.

Cultural competence is “the ability to communicate with, understand and effectively interact with people across cultures” (EYLF, 2015)

Cultural competence in social work is the primary guideline of social work education and practice. According to Carpenter (2016) As the population in the United States continues to diversify rapidly, the requirement for culturally competent social work administrations is similarly as essential as it ever has been. Carpenter (2016) found in the most recent decade; a cultural competence command was set up in the guidelines to continue reflecting social, cultural competence in

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.

Over the past four months, this course has been one of the most eye-opening experiences I have had during my first year of college. Although I have always realized the importance of being culturally competent in daily life, specifically healthcare, I was unaware of the many ways that cultural competence can be obtained. This class gave me the opportunity to view situations from a different perspective, especially through the weekly discussion boards and peer responses. Learning from classmate can teach more valuable lessons than listening to boring lectures or reading hundreds of pages in a textbook because it is easier to relate to experience rather than hypothetical situations. For example, one of the discussion boards asked us to detail

The diversity in the United States continues to grow, increasing the demand of creating more cultural competent programs. Health outcomes are addressed by race/ethnicity, and socioeconomic status. In research. race and ethnicity are potential predictors for a particular outcome. There is need for more research studies in order to provide an understanding of the different needs among ethnic minority groups. An abundance of research studies aggregates health data of different origin groups such as Hispanics or Asian/Pacific Islanders. The method is used in order to offer a result of a large population that may have multiple subgroups. Therefore, some may argue that aggregating results provides a more feasible process in analyzing a large ethnic

Did you know that I appreciate your positive attitude and that reflects during class on how you approach other class mates and how you relate to their experiences. In regards of your post here I agree that Cultural Competencies are a set of beliefs that needs to be taught and passed on from an early age and preferable long before people are taking courses that relate to Human Services and working with different populations. While class room and work experiences are a great start I question if it is enough when a worker in this field goes home after 8 hours and relapses back into her or his own cultural experiences. While some of us experience other diversities and cultures during our practicum site it might also be effective to eat and sleep

I think it is extremely important to be culturally competent. I would like to study the culture of my population to start with. In AODA there already is a certain amount of culture with numerous subcultures that is quantified buy the popularity of the drug of choice to the individual. Alcoholics find themselves in an extremely large culture or population, while benzo abusers would be a relatively small group, but growing daily. I plan on learning more about the different subcultures by going to different seminars and obtaining my own data through books and the World Wide Web. I also believe that practicing some active listening skills with the people of terror different sub drug cultures, that already intersect with my life will be a huge asset.