Cultural Awareness In Health Care Essay

With over 194 countries in the world, every country has own beliefs, language, customs and traditions which called culture. In other words, every place has own personality that form it or make it distinguished from others. As a result, people have to understand, adapt, respect and accept the different cultures which called culture competence. It defined that Cultural competence refers to the ability to coordinate or interact with other people who have different cultures (InFOMORY.com). In other words, a person who can deal with people who have different ethnicity or background, it is considered as especial trait because it will help him/her a lot where ever you are during dealing with people. In general, Culture competence is a very important factor that influences a person 's culture, values and beliefs. Also, it considered a step for learning about the various cultures and forming background about many cultures. In addition to that it has a major role in nursing field which is developing the method of providing care. In other words, the main target of cultural competent health care services is providing the highest level of care to every patient, regardless of race, ethnicity, cultural background, English proficiency or literacy (Health Policy Institute). In this case, we faced multi opinions toward culture competence in nursing. These opinions that support cultural competence in nursing for many reasons which are providing suitable care, proper

As I listened to the Riverbend scenario I thought of my own cultural competence and how at one time I knew very little of the Hmong culture. Working in a city where Asians make up only 3% of the population, this is a population I knew little about. I have learned that most Hmong are from the mountainous region of Laos, and are granted preferred refugee status by the U.S. (Cobb, 2010). From 2000 to 2010 the number of Hmong grew 40%, there are currently 260,073 Hmong people living primarily in California, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. Even though the Hmong people seem to be prospering after thirty years in the U.S., there are still challenges with communication, understanding of cultural beliefs, and use of traditional medical practices (United States Census Bureau, 2013)

After reading Dr. Galanti 's articles about culturally competent healthcare please answer the following questions:

This culture and the Australian Aboriginal culture have more similarities than differences regarding their cultural values and beliefs. One of the major similarity was the importance of transferring culture from generations through connecting culture in all aspects of life, such as traditional dances, where participation in such cultural traditions expressed one 's identity. In both these cultures, there are mainly three ways cultural wisdom have been passed onto younger generations, which are through family, society, and school. One such knowledge is the importance and benefits of a healthy lifestyle, emphasized through an individual 's diet and exercise (Crowe, Stanley, Probst & McMahon, 2017). These cultural values and traditions help

2.1 Device a strategy and criteria for measuring recent changes in Health and social care

In a culturally diverse country like the United States, healthcare professionals such as nurses will work with people of different cultural backgrounds who have different view of health and illness. Mcgoldrick, Giordano & Preto (2006) concluded that a sense of well-being in terms of physical and mental health within a societal context is strongly affected by cultural identity. Shared values, behaviors, beliefs and ethno-cultural attitudes of a community influence life experiences and decision we make (Yolanda & Griselda, 2006). With this in mind, it is essential for the nurses recognize the importance patients’ cultural values rooted in their health seeking behaviors.

Disparities in health are an inequality that occurs in the provision of healthcare and its accessibility across different dimensions including location, gender, ethnicity, age, disability status, citizenship status and socioeconomic group (Ubri & Artiga, 2016; Wallerstein & Durran, 2006). According to the health Resources and Service Administration of United States, health disparities are defined by population specific differences in the presence of disease, health outcomes and the accessibility to healthcare. Urbi and Artiga (2016) indicates that disparities in healthcare provision not only bring impacts to the group facing disparities, but also limit overall improvements in quality of care and population health as well as resulting

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).

The NHS Constitution established the principles and values that are fundamental to service users on how appropriate clinical decisions are made for the delivery of quality care (Department of Health 2010). It provides explicit information for patients to understand their care, what to expect, and feel more empowered involving in their own care (DH 2010). The NHS constitution explains the behaviour expected from stakeholders such as staff, patients and the public (DH 2010). This prevent the government from making alteration and give the NHS complete autonomy and protection against political change without the full involvement of stakeholders to achieve transparency in the delivery of care (DH 2010).

comprehensive assessment has not been successfully carried out. ! Cultural awareness in the 3-D Puzzle Model described by Schim et al. (2007) highlights the

The NHS is the pride of Britain being the fifth largest employer in the world. It is more than a health service provider. It is part of who we are. It never fails to hit the headlines almost every day for various achievements, underperformance or deficit. It has become every political party's agenda to have proposals of how to protect, preserve, enhance and improve performance of the NHS. The core of the NHS lies in the millions of staff working tirelessly to provide the best possible care for the patient. Like with any other large business organizations the NHS faces innumerable challenges. But what sets it apart from other businesses is the fact that the NHS core values are centered on the well being of patients. It strives to achieve the

There is no question that significant health disparities exist between racial and ethnic groups today. Research consistently shows that “patients of color experience poorer quality of care and health outcomes contributing to increased risks and accelerated mortality rates relative to their white counterparts.” This statistic is unacceptable and must be addressed in order to improve the health of our minority populations and increase the health of our society in general. For nurses and other health practitioners, it is not only a professional duty; it is a moral one.

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).

Primary care is said to be the “first point of contact” for people when accessing the health care system in Ireland (Department of health and children 2001). The World health organisation(1978) outline that one of the main roles of primary health care is to provide access to care for the most vulnerable but also to identify and rectify the factors which lead to their early mortality. The Alma Ata declaration (1978) was a huge milestone in the development of primary care and they explain how essential it is for all populations’ health. Unfortunately the vulnerable populations in Ireland suffer the effects of the social determinates and also the health inequalities and die younger because they put up with a healthcare system which “places lesser value on the lives of those with lesser means” (Wren 2002). This is why primary health care is of uttermost importance, the nurse in the community must try to help prevent, educate and overcome these inequalities and provide the highest standards of health for all, which is not based on want but need.

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.