Cultural Competence, Diversity and Practice When the topic of cultural diversity is discussed, this includes factors such as a client’s age, gender, sexual preference, spiritual beliefs, socioeconomic status, geographic location, physical and mental capacities (Davis, McPhail, Wiest, & Center for Substance Abuse Treatment, 1995). To me, the idea of cultural competency is not a skill one simply learns and then adds to his or her tool kit; it is an ongoing process. This involves not only staff development, but self-assessment as well. Cultural competence involves considering minority viewpoints and expanding one’s own perceptions and worldview, the truth is that all counselors have cultural blind spots (Davis, et al., 1995). I also believe the …show more content…
I have discovered much about myself, and some of the longstanding, unchallenged preconceptions I once held and had little thought about until faced with real-world circumstances. Since working in the field, I have learned that I was not as bias-free as I had imagined, and many if not most of my erroneous thinking was automatic or knee-jerk responses, and deep-seated indeed. I have mentioned it elsewhere, but one of the lessons I have learned is that all groups of diverse people are diverse themselves, even within their population. People from diverse populations face barriers to treatment that may not be readily considered. These include barriers to availability, accessibility, and the use of high-quality care (Center for Substance Abuse Treatment, 2015). Another poignant reality is that the gap between research and practice is wider for minorities; no specific analyses have been done in any controlled clinical trials for developing treatment guidelines for minority populations (Center for Substance Abuse Treatment,
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.
The Journal of Primary Care and Community Health states, “Physicians delay diagnostic testing, prescribe more generic medications, and avoid referral to specialty care for their patients of low SES versus other patients.” With these staggering results this proves the separation and racism within the medical field. People of color and those who are not as well off, are forced to handle these poor conditions for treatment, while those who are white and with more money are more inclined to get better care and medication. This is the issue with today’s health care because it does not treat every person equally, there is a huge amount of favoritism within the
Hispanics constitute a good portion of the United States population. It is estimated that they make up about 8% of the US and by the year 2050 one in five Americans will be Hispanic (U.S. Bureau of the Census, 1992). Hispanic people in the US are confronted with language barriers, discrimination, and poverty. These factors make this part of the population very susceptible to a variety of mental health issues. Proper care and treatment are vital for this segment of the population.
There is increasing evidence on mental health disparities. Studies show that minorities are more likely to delay or not seek mental health care, receive less adequate care, and/or terminate care sooner (McGuire et al., 2008). These disparities in receiving care arise due to
Addressing the specific values and needs of the Hispanic community can create more engageable and effective treatment for the Hispanic community. Alvarez et al. (2007) suggested that research should exist about the influence of cultural affiliation on treatment access, retention, and outcomes of substance use treatment among the Hispanic community. Culture and community are an important aspect of the recovery for the Hispanic community. Considering the influence of the culture in Hispanic clients can facilitate their
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”
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.
Wouldn’t it be nice to see health disparities or racism eliminated from populations? Wouldn’t that be something to behold? In 1999, the CDC initiated the Racial and Ethnic Approaches to Community Health (REACH) program to reduce the health disparities that exist between racial and ethnic cohorts.1 From 2009 to 2012, REACH programs have shown improvement from past funded programs;1 yet, only a few governmental and nongovernmental agencies are taking advantage of it. In 2006, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation provided funding for interventions to reduce racial and ethnic disparities and improving health care services in minority communities, because evidence-based research data show patients of specific racial and ethnic cohorts often receive
In conducting reviews of research related to health disparities and lack of access to healthcare for minorities, there are several articles that cite data and methods that show the relationship to minorities with low SES are significantly impacted. According to the peer reviewed article, “Reducing Health Disparities in Underserved Communities” there is a significant disparity in access to healthcare for minorities health services among whites, blacks, and Hispanics over the past two decades. The article also cited several causes to this lack of access such as
In a Health care and Research Quality report focusing on national trends in the equality of health care, it was found that major disparities still exist in America (Casale, 2010). Casale (2010), found that blacks received worse care than Whites for about 40% of measures, Asian Americans received worse care than Whites for about 20% of measures, and Hispanics received worse care than non- Hispanic Whites for about 60% of core measures. These statistics reflected the disparities and show an alarming gap in the quality of care being received. According to the Agency for Health care Research and Quality (AHRQ), very few disparities in quality of care for minorities are
Module 4: Case Study 1 Providing Culturally Appropriate Services in a Changing Community BreAnna Glenn HCA415: Community and Public Health Professor Gary Hanney November 6, 2017 Module 4: Case Study 1 Providing Culturally Appropriate Services in a Changing Community 1. Explain the meaning of cultural competence, its benefits and limits. Cultural competence means that an agency or individuals have the knowledge, skills.
Renowned author of Under the Skin and associate professor at CUNY’s Journalism School, Linda Villarosa delivers several key facts in her interview on Black American regarding racial health disparities in America. Villarosa discusses many factors of health disparities, such as the distrust African Americans have of the healthcare system, the unjust treatment of African Americans in the hands of healthcare practitioners, and the underrepresentation of African Americans in clinical trials. Villarosa makes it clear that there is a deep disparity between the treatment of black and white Americans in the healthcare system. The author uses statistics and anecdotal evidence to present a thorough evaluation of health disparities in America.
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
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