Culturally Sensitive Care
The healthcare industry has experienced significant diversity in terms of race, culture, ethnicity, and religion. Increased movement of people around the world has led to the state where people from different backgrounds have to work together, tending to diverse patients. The study of transcultural healthcare by medical practitioners is, therefore, vital in the present world to enable the provision of holistic care. Given that care providers meet different patients directly, they must understand various cultural practices ( Landry, 2017 ). The essay analyses the Purnell Model for Cultural diversity. It evaluates the model, organizational outline, the twelve domains of the theory, and their contributions towards diversity in healthcare. The paper also discusses the model’s relevance to transcultural healthcare and how it can be used by professionals in the healthcare field to improve their cultural competency.
The Purnell Model
The model was formed to be used by nurse trainees as an organizing framework for clinical assessment. Sometime later, a representative for the metaparadigm and the social competence scale were joined in the theory. The improvement led to a conceptualization with n organizing framework and a schematic that can be used in all practice settings. According to some nurse theorists and researchers, the Purnell Model is a holographic theory and a complexity ( Purnell & Fenkl, 2019 ). It was created using a variety of theories, with the knowledge base acquired from anatomy, biology, nutrition, anthropology, sociology, psychology, religion, political science, and linguistic, in addition to other disciplines. The Purnell Model is also characterized by a set of detailed assumptions, developed from a broad perspective to allow usage in different environments and operational settings.
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Transcultural healthcare dramatically depends on the Purnell Model. Through the model, healthcare professionals can effectively become culturally competent. It creates an effective platform for care providers to develop awareness towards their existence, develop the thought process, sensations and improve their understanding of the environment, hence improved quality in care delivery. The model contributes towards cultural competence as a nonlinear and conscious process by making sure that care provision happens in a way that does not violate clients’ cultural beliefs and practices. The ability to use the model in various healthcare environments makes it desirable in addition to being relevant.
Purnell’s 12 Domains of Culture
The domains are connected but represent different concepts. Overview, also known as heritage, is the first domain, which includes concepts about politics, nationality, migration, residence, economics, occupation, and education. The domain makes it possible to understand the interests and origin of a patient, which makes it possible to provide compatible care. The second domain, communication, is characterized by concepts about language and dialect. Language and dialect can further be broken down into nonverbal and verbal communication, contextual language use, and facial expressions. Communication is vital in any care provision process. The domain, therefore, enables proper understanding between the patient and care provider, hence efficient care provision. Family roles, also a domain, discuses gender roles, family concepts, growth, development, priorities, and social status ( Debiasi & Selleck, 2017 ). The domain makes it possible to provide health remedies that do not violate the family roles created in different cultural backgrounds. The fourth domain is the workforce issue, and it describes individualism concepts, autonomy, assimilation, and primary healthcare practices. The domain significantly contributes to patient-centered care that involves customization of the environment to fit the patient’s cultural requirements.
Biocultural ecology, the fifth domain, brings out racial and ethnic differences. A practical understanding of the differences makes it easy for a care provider to socialize with patients without the emergence of conflicts. High-risk behaviors, the sixth domain, are characterized by high-risk exercises like engaging in unprotected sexual activities, drugs, and substance abuse. The domain enables care providers to understand the extent to which their patients can go in line with exposing themselves to harm. The nutrition domain describes food choice as per the culture. It enables care providers to advise patients about the types of food to consume, which coincides with their cultural requirement when solving nutrition-related health issues. Childbearing practices, as the third domain, involves pregnancy-related taboos. The domain provides care providers with proper information to help deal with childbearing cases from different backgrounds without violating their norms.
The ninth and tenth domains are death rituals and spirituality, respectively. The domains enable healthcare practitioners to understand how different ethnic groups perform death rituals and their religious practices. The knowledge makes it possible to blend in and gain acceptance, hence the promotion of transcultural healthcare. Healthcare practices and practitioners are the eleventh and twelve domains, respectively. Healthcare practices include all factors that focus on care provision while the healthcare practitioner domain involves perceptions towards traditional and cultural caregivers ( Debiasi & Selleck, 2017 ). Understanding the domains enable the provision of the desired and most effective care, in collaboration with the traditional healers, who have a better understanding of their people.
Application of the Model when Working with Different Cultures
The model can be used in a variety of ways when working with people from different cultural backgrounds. An effective way of care provision is performing active observation and consulting the patient before implementing any medical procedure ( Purnell, 2019 ). The above simple process helps in the avoidance of situations that are more likely to interfere with the cultural beliefs and values of the patient. The process also promotes the patient’s comfort, which results in an effective care process.
References
Debiasi, L. B., & Selleck, C. S. (2017). CULTURAL COMPETENCE TRAINING FOR PRIMARY CARE NURSE PRACTITIONERS: AN INTERVENTION TO INCREASE CULTURALLY COMPETENT CARE. Journal of cultural diversity , 24 (2).
Landry, J. (2017). Delivering culturally sensitive care to LGBTQI patients. The Journal for Nurse Practitioners , 13 (5), 342-347.
Purnell, L. (2019). Update: The Purnell theory and model for culturally competent health care. Journal of Transcultural Nursing , 30 (2), 98-105.
Purnell, L. D., & Fenkl, E. A. (2019). The purnell model for cultural competence. In Handbook for Culturally Competent Care (pp. 7-18). Springer, Cham.
