An Organizing Framework For Interprofessional Global Health Education

The field of cross-cultural care mainly focuses on the ability to communicate in an effective way so that proper health care is provided to patients with from diverse sociocultural backgrounds. Unfortunately, there is no empirical literature comparing the effectiveness of different models of cross-cultural care and communication. However, there is a strong empirical evidence which shows that educating health care clinicians in cross-culture care can significantly improve skills, knowledge and attitude. (9, 10)

Critically analyse one of the main challenges, barriers, and enablers for cultural competence in health care when working in a cross-cultural environment.

I have learned that it is important that educators  and health providers be trained on cultural competency to understand the population they are serving. Marks, Sims, and Osher (King, Sims, & Osher, n.d.) define cultural competency  as a set of congruent behaviors, attitudes, and policies that come together in a system, agency, or among professionals and enables that system, agency, or those professionals to work effectively in cross–cultural situations" ( as cited in Cross et al., 1989; Isaacs & Benjamin, 1991). Health providers and educators should investigate demographic patterns or trends in the place where they live and work. This brings awareness of the types of cultures that they might come across when they are working with people. Organizations should integrate and implement policies that promote the value of  diversity, self-assessment, manage the dynamics of difference, acquire and institutionalize cultural knowledge, and adapt to diversity and the cultural contexts of communities they serve (Georgetown  University, 2004). Georgetown University (2004) also stresses that culture competency grows gradually and is always open for improvement.

I assume that in today’s world, there is a lot of information and scholarly research available that shows factors such as economic status, income, social situations, education, ethnicity, employment, availability of affordable housing and geographical (place where one was born and lives) conditions have a tremendous impact on the health and well-being of individuals, countries and communities (Amaro, 2014). Inequalities in health and well-being are created by social determinants and economic conditions for many in our community (Brannigan &Boss). The people that are affected the most are people with low income and minority groups here in the United States. This creates health disparities and unequal care (Brannigan &Boss). In many developing and under-developed countries, the situation is dire: lack of modern health services, illiteracy, poor economic conditions has created a cultural situation of desperation and unhealthy behaviors. Corruption by African governments is rampant. To improve the health and wellbeing of communities, we need to start thinking of how we can create a culture of health.

The Giger and Davidhizar Transcultural Assessment Model was developed for undergraduate nursing students in 1988 by Joyce Newman Giger and Ruth Davidhizar. The assessment model provides a framework for nursing students to easily assess and provide care for patients from many different cultural backgrounds. Six cultural aspects are highlighted: communication, time, space, social organization, environmental control, and biological variations (Giger & Davidhizar, 2002).

With the focus on these five areas, Governments in each country are creating health systems that aim to provide services that are affordable, equitable and accessible. To achieve a sustainable health system, cooperation and participation of all health care providers is vital. This will work towards WHO’s goal of achieving “better health for all”

Diversity among individuals, as well as cultures, provides a challenge for nurses when it comes to delivering meaningful health promotion and illness prevention-based education. How do teaching principles, varied learning styles (for both nurses and patients), and teaching methodologies impact the approach to education? How do health care providers overcome differing points of view regarding health promotion and disease prevention? Provide an example.

Núñez, A. E. (2000). Transforming cultural competence into cross-cultural efficacy in womenʼs health education. Academic Medicine, 75(11),

Being culturally competent and delivering culturally sensitive care is imperative for anyone in the medical profession. It is important because of the many diversities faced every day in the health care field. However, simply understanding the fact that there are so many health disparities is not enough. In order to reach out and effectively care for patients of different backgrounds and cultures one must understand the importance of cultural competency. In order to be culturally competent, a nurse must have knowledge of the different cultures, and

Anderson, P. A., Gill, P. S., Greenfield, S. M., & Loudon, R. F. (1999). Educating medical students for work in culturally diverse societies. Journal of American Medical Association, 282. 875-880.

From this class I understood that Interprofessional Education (IPE) is when two or more profession learn from, with and about each other. This collaboration is important in order to fulfill the patients’ needs that are becoming more complex, multi-faced and challenging day by day. It is also clear to me that no single profession in healthcare can adequately address all the demands of patients. Therefore, partnership between teams is required to provide a safe, timely, effective and equitable patient care. To have a smooth collaboration, it is necessary to learn from each other’s specializations, strength and experiences. In the real world, healthcare is an interdisciplinary team effort to provide the best possible service to a patient based on evidence based practices. Considering this, I had the

My passion for global health stems from my experiences as a child. Growing up as a child of Mexican immigrants to the United States, I had the opportunity to visit family members in southern Mexico every few years. While I savored reconnecting with relatives, my awareness of inequalities bolstered with each visit. My relatives live in rural areas where economic adversity is persistent and access to quality healthcare is sparse. Contrasting my relatives’ experiences and opportunities with my own exemplified to me how one’s life is shaped by economic conditions, healthcare access, education systems, and one’s birthplace.

I have always been aware of global issues and needing to understand what is happening in the world has always been important to me. However, I never understood global concerns through a health paradigm. Many of the concepts presented in this course were not new to me, as I have been an active participant in global issues and organizations, such as Spread the Net Campaign to end malaria, as well as many different human rights causes. However, the new insight I gained was in regards to

Global health is defined as “health problems, issues, or concerns that transcend national borders” (Institute of Medicine, 1997, p. 2). Koplan (2009) proposed a new definition for global health which he described as an “area for study, research and practice that places a priority on improving health and achieving equity in health for all people worldwide” (para, 7). Global health emphasizes transnational health issues, determinants, and solutions from an interdisciplinary perspective and blends population health and clinical care.

Systems thinking is a method of thinking that looks at the interconnectedness between different elements rather than a linear cause and effect approach and sees patterns of change rather than fixed “snapshots”. In essence it is a view on the “whole picture” (Anderson, R 1994).