Introduction
Cultural diversity poses a challenge to health care. For instance, language barriers and other cultural beliefs such as treatment administration, differ from one patient to another. Therefore, cultural competence for health professionals is currently a requirement. The term cultural competence in this case refers to the ability of healthcare givers to operatively convey health services that meet the cultural, social and linguistic needs of their patients’ (Harrison et al., 2019, p.2). Ethnically competent healthcare thus revolves around a patient’s health care agenda. Thus, ethnic competency amongst health care experts plays a major role in engaging effectively with clients from all sorts of ethnic backgrounds. Operative patient engagement has been linked with high-quality health care. A clinician should be in a position to comprehend how a patient’s social ethnic background affects their health beliefs and mannerism. For effective patient engagement, a partnership is formed between the health expert and the patient. This means that the patients are actively involved in the decision making as they are taken as members of the health care team.
Main body
However, four themes emerge from the concept of cultural perspectives and individual context. They include building foundations of trust and respect, diversification of communication channels, generation of system, service and community partnerships and creating time. Firstly, cultural standpoint and personal context refer to the tactics that seek to comprehend and respond to patients as individuals. Additionally, the generation of system, service and community partnerships constitutes of forming zonal partnerships to up-scale the health professional’s information about their communities. Furthermore, building foundations of trust and respect encompasses the cultivation of mutual respect so that patients can trust and utilize healthcare. Furthermore, diversification of communication channels refers to moving from the customary use of translation resources, interpreters and bilingual workers to the engagement of patients through practical activities, watching videos and storytelling. Lastly, the theme of taking time refers to creating time to build a relationship with the patients through multiple sessions to address challenges faced and so forth.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the acknowledgement of diversity within communities and individuals in those communities, all with their own experiences, is essential for effective patient engagement. Inserting cultural competence as a health scheme, amenity and professional proficiency is thus vital to ensure equitable healthcare quality for consumers from all ethnic backgrounds.
References
Harrison, R., Walton, M., Chauhan, A., Manias, E., Chitkara, U., Latanik, M., & Leone, D. (2019). What is the role of cultural competence in ethnic minority consumer engagement? An analysis in community healthcare. International Journal for Equity in Health, 18(1), 1-9.