As a healthcare professional, I interact with people of diverse cultural backgrounds. Such a situation entails some degree of neutrality when dispensing care to such patients. My cultural competency self-assessment confirms my neutrality on several issues(American Speech-Language-Hearing Association 2010). However, the same assessment also indicates I have little cultural knowledge on the overarching influence of culture.
The assessment, which was in two parts, aims to establish my opinion and understanding on cultural matters. The first section aims to provide my opinion on my handling of different cultural and linguistic settings. Therefore, according to the assessment tool, I observe mostly a neutral position. My interpretation is that my personal opinions do not influence my view of patients with lingual and cultural settings different from mine(American Speech-Language-Hearing Association 2010). However, such neutrality has the potential of coming across as cultural incompetence. According to the assessment, for example, an unsure of how to handle others insensitive behaviors and comments. That exposes me to the risk of being perceived by either the patients or their families as displaying cultural incompetence. This is compounded by the uncertainty of my participation in either culturally insensitive comments or behaviors.
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Culture defines the way we interact with the world. The US has several cultures using the healthcare system, which is a challenge for both professionals and patients. There are aspects of the healthcare system that patients of different cultures will find unacceptable. Professionals should be aware of the influence of several cultural backgrounds in the dispensation of their duties: their personal background, their medical background, and the patient’s cultural background (Ihara 2004). Dealing with a patient of a similar upbringing may produce patient dissatisfaction due to the professional’s medical background which might influence his conduct. For example, there are cases of patients who base their dissatisfaction on the physicians conduct. Such patients do not specifically criticize their medical treatment, they criticize the professional for not acknowledging their humanity. So, if that happens among individuals of the same cultural background then cultural competency is critical in an American health system interacting with several cultures.
The assessment’s second part established my knowledge on cultural influence on language, child-rearing practices, life activities and communication. I discovered that I have limited knowledge on these aspects of culture. This means that I am disadvantaged to the extent of offering professional services to patients of diverse cultural origins(Griffith, Wolfeld, Armon, Rios & Liu 2016). This is because my limited knowledge on culture will impede the delivery of healthcare. Therefore, I have selected those cultural aspects related to communication as my areas of improvement. For example, an enhanced cultural competency should help me appreciate that foreign accents or reduced English proficiency are not indicative of intellectual capacity and the ability to communicate in other languages. Related to this point is my understanding of cultural influence on aspects of communication like greetings, humor, eye contact, personal space as well as asking and responding to questions.
The increased diversity of the American population puts a premium on the need for cultural competency within the healthcare system. Again, the aim of cultural competency is to ensure patients receive adequate and professional care irrespective of their cultural inclination. Therefore, there is the need for a standardized cultural training framework encompassing both professionals and students (Griffith, Wolfeld, Armon, Rios & Liu 2016). Such a framework should be built on existing knowledge and experience about culture and recognize that cultural competence is a process.
It is impossible to gather all facts about every culture, therefore programs with a bias for facts can be combined with universal skills (Ihara 2004). For example, a combination of communication skills and medical history taking techniques have universal application. Professionals can use curiosity and empathy to relationships with patients and uncover beliefs and preferences in the process.
References
American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. (2010). Cultural competence checklist: Personal reflection. Retrieved from http://www.asha.org/uploadedFiles/Cultural-Competence-Checklist-Personal-Reflection.pdf .
Griffith, R. L., Wolfeld, L., Armon, B. K., Rios, J., & Liu, O. L. (2016). Assessing Intercultural Competence in Higher Education: Existing Research and Future Directions. ETS Research Report Series , 2016 (2), 1-44.
Ihara, E. (2004). Cultural Competence in Health Care: Is it Important for People with Chronic Conditions? Center on an Aging Society.
