Nowhere are the divisions of race, ethnicity, and culture more sharply drawn than in the health of the people in the United States. Despite recent progress in overall national health, disparities continue in the incidence of illness and death among African Americans, Latino/Hispanic Americans, Native Americans, Asian Americans, Alaska Natives, and Pacific Islanders, as compared with the US population as a whole. Show
Health and human service organizations are recognizing the need to enhance services for culturally and linguistically diverse populations. Providing culturally and linguistically appropriate healthcare services requires an understanding of cultural competence.
What is Cultural Competence?Cultural and linguistic competence is a set of congruent behaviors, attitudes, and policies that come together in a system, agency, or among professionals that enables effective work in cross-cultural situations. 'Culture' refers to integrated patterns of human behavior that include the language, thoughts, communications, actions, customs, beliefs, values, and institutions of racial, ethnic, religious, or social groups. 'Competence' implies having the capacity to function effectively as an individual and an organization within the context of the cultural beliefs, behaviors, and needs presented by consumers and their communities. (Adapted from Cross, 1989).(1) Cultural competence requires that organizations:
Cultural competence is a developmental process that evolves over an extended period. Both individuals and organizations are at various levels of awareness, knowledge, and skills along the cultural competence continuum.(2) Cultural competence is the integration and transformation of knowledge about individuals and groups of people into specific standards, policies, practices, and attitudes used in appropriate cultural settings to increase the quality of services; thereby producing better outcomes.(3) Principles of cultural competence include:(4)
Improved quality of care is the outcome measure that indicates whether implementing training programs, policies, and culturally or linguistically appropriate standards makes a difference. A new trend in the literature suggests that using cultural competency in a focused or strategic way can be a helpful adjunct to the quality improvement process. For example, if a program wants to analyze patterns of broken appointments, it might examine variables such as age, gender, or race/ethnicity. If the analysis reveals that adolescents have the highest rate of broken appointments, the program can target specific strategies to this group. Does the clinic need to have weekend hours, when teens can more easily slip away from home? Would providing free transportation or reminder calls from caseworkers help? Does the provider reflect a youth-sensitive approach to the clinic's client base?(5) What's the Difference? Cultural Competence, Awareness, and SensitivityCultural competence emphasizes the idea of effectively operating in different cultural contexts, and altering practices to reach different cultural groups. Cultural knowledge, sensitivity, and awareness do not include this concept. Although they imply understanding of cultural similarities and differences, they do not include action or structural change.(6) How Does Cultural Competence Apply to HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention?From Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) Care ACTION: Improving HIV/AIDS Care in a Changing Environment, August 2002, Mitigating Health Disparities Through Cultural Competence:
Being competent in cross-cultural functioning means learning new patterns of behavior and effectively applying them in the appropriate settings.(12) For HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment to succeed, the special needs and life contexts of those who are marginalized because of race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status (SES), sexual orientation, age, or gender must be sensitively addressed. Cultural competence must be demonstrated not only by intervention programs and staff, but also by surveillance staff, researchers (and their investigations), as well as by those delivering prevention services, care, and treatment programs to those who are HIV-infected. Learn More About Cultural CompetenceHIV/AIDS, TB and Cultural CompetenceCase Studies in Cultural Competency Electronic Library AIDS Education and Training Center National Multicultural Center TB and Cultural Competency Resources from the AIDS Education Training Centers National Resource Center Cultural Competency and Tuberculosis Care: A Guide for Self-Study and Self-Assessment General Cultural Competence InformationCase Studies: Videos DiversityRx National Standards for Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services in Health Care The National Standards for Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services in Health and Health Care (CLAS) A Physician's Practical Guide to Culturally Competent Care A Patient-Centered Guide to Implementing
Language Access Services in Healthcare Organizations Cultural and Linguistic Competency Culture, Language, and Health Literacy Assessing Organizational and Practitioner Cultural CompetenceHIV Provider Cultural Competency Self-Assessment Understanding and Targeting Specific PopulationsFrom National Minority AETC: Patient Provider Interaction When asked to describe the differences between ethnicity and race what should the student nurse explain quizlet?4. When asked to describe the differences between ethnicity and race, what should the student nurse explain? 1. Ethnicity refers to a shared identity, whereas race is limited to biological attributes.
When a cultural assessment is performed knowledge of a patient's country of origin and its history and ecological context is known as what?Knowledge of a patient's country of origin and its history and ecological contexts is significant to health care and is known as ethnic heritage and ethnohistory.
Which of the following must the nurse do in order to be culturally competent?Culturally Competent Care in Nursing
Understanding the relationship between nurses and patients. Acquiring knowledge of various cultural practices and views of the world. Developing communication skills to promote and achieve interaction among cultures.
When providing care to patients with varied cultural backgrounds it is imperative for the nurse to recognize that?When providing care to clients with varied cultural backgrounds. it is imperative for the nurse to recognize that: A. Cultural considerations must be put aside if basic needs are in jeopardy.
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