In the modern society where globalization forces have created heterogeneous communities, cultural competence is essential for the effective delivery of customized healthcare services to patients from diverse cultural backgrounds. Cultural competence allows healthcare personnel to understand, appreciate, and honor cultural similarities and variations within, between, and among individuals and communities. Josepha Campinha-Bacote realized the essence of cultural competence and developed a valid and reliable cultural competence model in 1999 (Cai, 2016). This model comprises of five facets, namely, desires, encounters, knowledge, skill assessment, and awareness. These facets comprehensively define the cultural competence of healthcare providers. The purpose of this reflection is to apply this model in undertaking a personal assessment of cultural competence and review my growth status in the cultural continuum.
Cultural Desires
Based on the assessment tool, I have a strong desire for cultural competence. Cultural desire is a major determinant of cultural competence because it motivates healthcare providers to seek knowledge, skills, encounters, and awareness of beliefs, values, norms, practices, and lifeways that patients espouse (Shen, 2015). The strong desire allows me to interact with patients from diverse cultural backgrounds and share their beliefs, norms, values, and practices that are critical for the effective delivery of services. Moreover, the intense desire suppresses my ethnocentrism, eliminates prejudice, overcomes the cultural shock, and excludes bias hindering me from interacting freely with clients from varied cultural backgrounds. Self-assessment shows that cultural desire is an inner drive that inspires me to provide customized healthcare services to racially, ethnically and culturally diverse clients. With the need to comprehend and appreciates how patients perceive diseases, treatment methods, and the healing process, cultural desire has expanded my worldview and promoted acculturation. Since I understand the role of cultural competence in the provision of quality care, I advocate for programs and procedures that consider the cultural and linguistic backgrounds of patients.
Cultural Encounters
The assessment tools depict that I have a moderate level of encounters in cultural competency. Cultural encounters assess the extent to which healthcare providers exploit opportunities for interacting with patients from different cultural upbringings (Shen, 2015). Sustained encounters trigger acculturation since it permits healthcare providers to interact with diverse patients, learn about their culture, and adopt some practices (Cai, 2016). Since culture constitutes shared beliefs, norms, values, and lifeways, constant social interaction promotes cultural competence. In the provision of healthcare services, I prefer interacting with clients from varied racial and ethnic groups, and I encourage my friends and colleagues to nurture cross-cultural relationships in healthcare settings. While attending seminars, conferences, and holiday celebrations, I make sure that I encounter and interact with individuals from diverse cultures. Experiences of interacting with people from different cultural backgrounds have empowered my cultural competence. Stereotypes and prejudices associated with a particular ethnic or racial group have faded away because of the acculturation and expansion of my worldview. Constant interaction with patients from various cultural backgrounds has enhanced the effectiveness of delivering care due to the enrichment of my cultural competence.
Cultural Knowledge
With the conception and appreciation of the role of cultures in the provision of care and treatment of diseases, I am proficient in cultural knowledge. Cultural knowledge entails the consideration of health beliefs, the occurrence of diseases, and treatment efficacy. While health beliefs that patients cherish determine their ability to comply with prescribed medications, genetic factors in a given community have a marked influence on the occurrence and treatment of diseases (Wolyniak, Bemis, & Prunuske, 2015). Given that I provide healthcare services in a heterogeneous community, I comprehend the cultural values, norms, practices, and beliefs that my clients embrace. I recognize that the customization of services to suit the diverse cultural needs of patients is integral in improving the accessibility and effectiveness of treatments. In the metabolism of drugs, I know that biotic factors such as genes and enzymes vary from one culture to another. The variation in biotic factors elucidates the mechanisms of drugs and the effectiveness of treatment regimens (Wolyniak et al., 2015). Therefore, I comprehend that diseases follow cultural patterns and trends of immigrant and host communities.
Cultural Skill Assessment
The self-assessment tool reveals that I score moderately in the skill assessment, a critical aspect of cultural competence. Cultural skills assessment is indispensable to the understanding of the health conditions of patients and designing of appropriate and customized services that are sensitive to cultural needs (Cai, 2016). Since communication determines the way healthcare providers connect with their clients, I normally use appropriate language and relevant protocols in collecting information and delivering care. Before I engage my clients on treatment procedures, I constantly seek to know their cultural values, norms, beliefs, and practices so that I can provide expected and acceptable care. In instances where there is a language barrier, I recruit translators who do recognize not only language but also cultural factors that influence healthcare outcomes. Watt, Abbott, and Reath (2016) explain that the language barrier is an important factor that limits cross-cultural interaction and communication. Hence, in my cultural skill assessment, I strive to overcome communication barriers, design appropriate treatment programs and provide effective care.
Cultural Awareness
In the aspect of awareness, I have a high degree of cultural competence. The high degree of cultural awareness is evident in the way I handle clients who have different cultural backgrounds. I am aware that there is a significant variation in cultural norms, values, practices, and beliefs requiring healthcare providers to recognize so that they can offer personalized care services. According to Watt et al. (2016), cultural awareness facilitates one to eliminate prejudices and biases that cloud change a worldview and reduce the competence of healthcare providers. Personal assessment of awareness indicates that I recognize and appreciate the existence of diverse cultures and their respective values, norms, and beliefs. When providing care to my clients, I do not allow my culture to dictate their unique needs through the imposition of my beliefs, norms, and values. For instance, gendered-roles vary from one culture to another, and they influence the manner of caregiving. Furthermore, I am sensitive to perceptions, emotions, and the feelings of my clients from other cultural and racial backgrounds.
Conclusion
The assessment of my cultural competence reveals that the cultural desire motivates me to pursue cultural encounters, seek cultural knowledge, gain cultural skills, and attain cultural awareness. The assessment tool shows that I have a strong cultural desire, proficiency in cultural knowledge, and a high degree of cultural awareness. Additionally, the assessment tool indicates that I have moderate scores in cultural awareness and skills assessment. Since Josepha Campinha-Bacote stated that cultural competence is a lifelong process of learning, I aim to continue gaining new approaches to health. Overall, the self-assessment suggests that I have made significant progress in seeking and attaining various aspects of cultural competence.
References
Cai, D. (2016). A concept analysis of cultural competence. International Journal of Nursing Sciences, 3(3), 268-273. Web.
Shen, Z. (2015). Cultural competence models and cultural competence assessment instruments in nursing: A literature review. Journal of Transcultural Nursing, 26(3), 308-321. Web.
Watt, K., Abbott, P., & Reath, J. (2016). Developing cultural competence in general practitioners: An integrative review of the literature. BMC Family Practice, 17(158), 1-11. Web.
Wolyniak, M. J., Bemis, L. T., & Prunuske, A. (2015). Improving medical students’ knowledge of genetic disease: A review of current and emerging pedagogical practices. Advances in Medical Education and Practice, 6(1), 597-607. Web.