Introduction
With the world getting increasingly globalised, cross cultural interactions are more frequent both in private lives and at work. Indeed the issue is one that human resource departments of global multinationals struggle with on a daily basis especially when it comes to staff transfers. In the health sector such as a clinic set up, like the rest of other workplaces, the issue is still faced. According to the Institute of Medicine (2002), in a report on unequal treatment; cultural stereotyping and prejudice by healthcare providers contribute to differences in the provision of health services. Although the Institute of Medicine (IOM) focused its attention on both ethical and racial-cultural diversity exhaustively, there are actually several aspects of cultural differences that should be further considered to promote cultural competence among coworkers and patients. These are differences in age, race, gender, nationality, religion, ethnicity, language, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, and disability, among others. Health workers should expect to take care of patients identifiable with one or more of the above groups. Comprehending cultural competence and that culture is a component of human life helps workers perform better in their duties.
Cultural competence
As aforementioned, cultural competence is a dominant force both in business and healthcare. This is defined by Burcham (2002, p. 84) as “the use of health knowledge and culturally based care explicitly in creative, meaningful, and sensitive ways in order to fit the general needs and lifeways of people for meaningful and beneficial health and well-being or to face disabilities, illness, or death”. There are several attributes of cultural competency as briefly discussed below that health workers should embrace to curb the disparity.
Cultural awareness
This is one’s ability to self examine and analyze own prejudices and biases towards particular groups of individuals. It could be in thought, sensation, and environment without undue influence on other backgrounds. Individuals should also understand their traditional health practices and cultural values.
Cultural knowledge
This involves making effort to be knowledgeable of other cultures apart from an individual’s own. Health workers should constantly be alert to using medical, nursing, and humanistic knowledge to comprehend patients.
Skill
Cultural skill concentrates on systematic, reflection, and evaluation of facts on groups with different cultural affiliations. This ability to acquire culturally relevant data on a client helps inaccurate performance of physical examination of patients
Cultural encounters
Cultural encounter entails the development of relationships that are mutually satisfying with different cultural groups through the application of knowledge and good interpersonal skills. When culturally dissimilar individuals come together, they are likely to develop a relationship that is mutually satisfying if all the parties make effort to learn from one another’s cultures.
Sensitivity/respect
This implies health workers need basic know how and a positive attitude towards the diverse traditional practices observed by inhabitants of their set of practices.
Cultural development/proficiency
Development involves self-assessment by workers own areas of competency; that is, where there is a need for adjustment for better performance.
Conclusion
The above attributes are not exhaustive in combating cultural differences amongst co-workers and patients in health institutions, but they sure lead to proficiency. Diligent implementation leads to improvement of treatment plans and diagnoses, fewer delays in seeking healthcare, enhanced communication amongst involved parties, compatibility between traditional health practices and conventional medicine, development of plans for treatment that are supported by patients’ families, among others. They should therefore be considered to improve health services.
Reference List
Burchum, J. (2002). Cultural competence: An evolutionary perspective. Nursing Forum 137(4), 5-15.
Institute of Medicine. (2002). Unequal treatment: What health care providers need to know about Racial and ethnic disparities in health care. Web.