Essay On Cultural Competency

The purpose of this paper is to provide a short reflection on chapters 1-10 of the book Cultural Diversity: A Primer for the Human Services by Jerry V. Diller. Also, lectures provide by the professor will be discussed in this paper. The lectures discussed in this paper will be lectures A-E.

Hispanic and Latino populations are not being provided with adequate mental health care and are an underserved population (Peters, Sawyer, & Guzman, 2014). There are several barriers, cultural and other, that prevent and dissuade Hispanic and Latino individuals from seeking mental health care (The Pew Charitable Trusts, 2015). Lack of bi-lingual providers is one of the many obstacles this population is faced with.

Cultural Competency in general is related to the ability to serve people in an appropriate way where they feel respected. In health care this refers to comfortable treatments that meet the standards of the patient from any backgrounds with all their different ways of living. Health care is a very important matter to every culture with different beliefs, traits, linguistics, etc. As Tamu Nolfo, the certified prevention specialist states in the short video “What is cultural competence and why is it important?”, there is still a problem with inequality in the United States. This makes it difficult to connect with such diverse cultures and backgrounds. It is; however, very important to have health care providers with cultural competent manners

Latino Families in Therapy Second Edition was published in 2014. Celia Jeas Falicov who is a clinical psychologist, author and currently teaching at the University of California in San Diego wrote the book. As the main contributor of the book Celia’s goal is to help others understand the importance of being competent when working with Latino Families and acknowledging that because the families come from a different background than those giving the interventions we must find therapeutic approaches that will benefit the Latino community. Falicov gives great insight to the different Latino communities that we could encounter and successful evidence based practices that can be used such as a meeting place for culture and therapy (MECA).

Fact Sheet: Latino children in Child Welfare. Casey Latino Leadership Group. Retrieved from https://www.nycourts.gov/ip/cwcip/Trainings/ECPCC/DMR/Latino- Disproportionality/latinoChildren.pdf

A classroom should be filled with a wide variety of languages, experiences, and cultural diversity. An effective teacher understands the importance of culturally responsive teaching, and recognizes the significance of including students ' cultural references in all aspects of learning. Having an enriching classroom that engages all students does not mean making judgments about a student’s culture based on their skin color, gender, or socioeconomic status, rather it means knowing each student in a way that is individualized. According to the authors of The First Day of School: How to be an Effective Teacher Harry Wong, race, gender, religion, financial statue, and skin color is the least important factor determining a student’s achievement. Moreover, demographics and culture are not an excuse for students’ lack of achievement. (pg.80) Acknowledging and embracing a student’s racial or ethnic background is important, but it is just a piece of the educational puzzle. Effective teachers must be culturally responsive, with fine-tuned classroom management skills, and high expectations for all their students.

Often times today, people of other racial classes and ethnic groups are experiencing oppression as a marginalized group in society today. Racial biases and culture have become an important issue in mental health due to social constructs, racial stereotypes and racial ideology. As a result, they tend to have an impact human development, racial and cultural identity. Therefore, it has become necessary for counselors to indentify and become fully aware and competent in this area due to the changes our society has undergone in multiculturalism and globalization. Due to cultural diversity, identification of minority groups has led to major breakthrough in the field of multicultural counseling/ therapy (Sue &Sue,2014).

Dr. Galanti provides insight into the relationship between cultural diversity and heath care providers. Dr. Galanti’s briefly states the difference between “stereotype and generalization”. The author recognizes that generalization may be a key factor used by workers in the health care community to bring awareness and a better understanding of cultural differences among patients. The article explains that although cultures differ in values, traditions, and beliefs, there are questions (the 4’C’s of culture) that may open up the line of communication, between provider and

There are various cultural differences that teachers are likely to come across culturally diverse classrooms including Gender, Age, Cognition, Norms, beliefs, Primary language, Exceptionality, Cultural heritage, Socio-economic status, Opinions, ideas, Attitudes, Expectations, Behavioral styles, Geography, Learning styles, Communication Styles, Decision making styles, Ways of Communicating Non-verbally, Ways of Learning, Ways of Dealing with Conflict, Ways of Using Symbols and Approaches to completing tasks etc.

Unfair punishments and policies in a school setting ultimately disenfranchise minority youth of their civil rights and liberties. In the case of the “school to prison pipeline”, minority youths’ right to an education is being violated, creating a social need for developing healthy and fair discipline procedures (Porter, 2015). This social need can be addressed by properly assessing minority youth who display unacceptable behavior. Instead of using extreme punishment, such as expulsion and out of school suspensions to deflect inappropriate behavior, other methods can be set in place such as counseling sessions or after school programs geared towards encouraging appropriate behavior.

“ According to the National Association of Social Workers Web site, racism is “the ideology or practice through demonstrated power or perceived superiority of one group over others by reasons of race, color, ethnicity, or cultural heritage....” The definition further goes on to note that “racism is manifested at the individual, group, and institutional level.” (Blank, 2013)

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

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: Development of a conceptual framework” that cultural competence is difficult to define and measure, but it can be demonstrated by adjusting healthcare practices and interventions in order to

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

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