Discuss your thoughts with the class about the content addressed on the website
Culture is a collection of customs, values, beliefs, behaviors, communication, and way of thinking that is specific to a given group of individuals. Similarly, group classifications such as racial, ethnic, geographic, and linguistic groups can also be used to define culture.
Firstly, as the article elucidates, understanding the role of culture in the organization communication structure is of paramount importance since it can either allow effective communication or sometimes get in the way of communication. For instance, being a member of a certain cultural group enables one to learn the communication rules associated with the given group. However, in other cases, culture may act as a barrier for effective communication, for example, when organizations and individuals decide to communicate with individuals outside their group using their in-group languages communication is always not effective or even sometimes fails.
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Secondly, the article by CDC addresses the conventional solutions to the communication barriers that come about due to cultural differences. Particularly, translation and interpretation are crucial in such scenarios but still not very effective. Several reasons lead to such inefficiency in using translators and interpreters such as some items and ideas in one language group may lack an explanation in the other group. Additionally, sometimes individuals possess little or weak numeracy and literacy skills in their native language thus becoming tough for them to comprehensively understand the translated or interpreted materials.
Lastly, since conventional methods of minimizing communication barriers created by culture are proving ineffective, it is wise to use modern ways that organizations can employ to support communication across several cultures. For example, use of the Language Access Portal (LAP) developed by the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD) is useful to individual executing duties in areas with people with little or lack English proficiency. Others include the use of standards set by the National Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services (CLAS) and the Guide to Providing Effective Communication and Language Assistance Services.
How could you use the information to communicate cross-culturally as a healthcare administrator?
As a healthcare administrator, effective communication is a crucial element. Therefore, since my profession entails helping people of different cultures, one way to effectively enhance communication is by use of the available tools such as the Language Access Portal (LAP) which provides access to vast reliable health information across multiple languages. Secondly, I would employ the standards set by the National Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services (CLAS) to ensure effective cross-cultural communication. Thirdly, I would utilize the Guide to Providing Effective Communication and Language Assistance Services to enable care providers to communicate effectively with their patients. Also, I can make use of translators and interpreters. However, it is subject to certification by the American Translator Association that the translators possess skills to determine health literacy skills, communication expectations, and the language preferences of the primary audience in order to use them to create appropriate materials and messages. Lastly, I can use the Primer on Cultural Competency and Health Literacy to educate the healthcare staff in cross-cultural communication and how to effectively deliver excellent services to members of different cultures hence reducing health disparities.
