Personal Exploration Worksheet
Part 1: Select 4 groups that you are the least familiar with from the following list:
African Americans
Native Americans
Latino(a)
Asian Americans
Jewish Americans
Arab/Muslim Americans
Single mothers
Displaced homemakers
People over 60
Unemployed people over 50
Immigrants
Part 2: Write a 50- to 100-word response to each question:
Group 1: People over 60
1) Describe your assumptions, beliefs, and perceptions about members of this group. People over 60 are most likely already retired and don’t work. Their health is not as good as the younger generation and they may visit the hospital and doctors often. They are set in old ways from their past and don’t like to experience new ideas or change. Many are
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They have learned a lot from their ancestors and use it in daily living. I would still assume that they live off of the land and use no technology and electricity. Of course some may have adapted to live now and live in homes. They believe in the afterlife, and worship the sun, rain, and nature. They have many gods.
2) When you think about working professionally with members of this group, are there traits, characteristics, or other issues about the group that you would be curious about, concerned about, or intimidated by? Why would understanding diversity issues be important to you as a human services worker? I would think that Native Americans would be harder to work with because they may not agree with everything the worker is trying to do. They may feel weak to ask for help. They have many beliefs that may come in the way of receiving help, such as using certain medicines or getting government help. It would be important to understand this group so that the service worker does not offend the client and can help them using their knowledge of their culture.
3) How could advanced knowledge of the group address concerns and assumptions? Advanced knowledge of Native Americans can address concerns and assumptions because you will learn the true beliefs of Native Americans and how they evolved into today’s society. You will learn how to handle situations without offending them.
For instance , growth and development, beauty, good health, happiness are more likely to be listed as characteristics of being under sixty five years, whereas decline health, loneliness undesired physical appearance are likely to be listed for person’s over sixty five years. According to the Centre of Confidence and well being (n.d) reports stereotypes of the elderly as being needy,
Part 1: Select 4 groups that you are the least familiar with from the following list:
Cultural diversity continually grows, and as a counselor, it is my job to remain culturally competent, through keeping abreast of empirical research methods and educating myself on current sociocultural developments. Admittedly, I enjoy working with diverse populations; I easily transcend cultural, spiritual and socioeconomic differences. I have many friends from various faiths, ethnicities, and cultural backgrounds. There is a definite need for empathy and empowerment within the cultural sphere; human interactions are vital to our wellbeing, and acceptance of others cultural differences is helpful to understanding one another.
Are there likely to be multicultural issues to be addressed as you work with this population? How would you address those?
Interviewing John gave me a better understanding with our older generation, and the struggles they faced throughout their lives. The purpose of this paper was to gain a better knowledge about our elder’s health, lifestyle, and many challenges they have encountered.
When helping clients, it is important to be aware that diversity issues may be encountered everywhere. According to Barker (2003) diversity is defined as, “Variety, or the opposite of homogeneity…usually refers to the range of personnel who more accurately represent minority populations and people from varied backgrounds, cultures, ethnicities, and viewpoints,” (pg. 126).
They believed in gods and committed to their faith. They lived a structured lifestyle of farming and trading, and created an bequest with an everlasting
When I was reading the article Myths of Aging, I found it very interesting. Almost all of the stereotypes that our society has on elderly is basically covered in this article. The first myth that was covered is my favorite, and this myth states, “All old people are the same.” Reality is there is more variety among older people than among any other age group. I think that this makes a great statement for the elderly because it shows that they are not afraid to be themselves, and that they probably don’t worry about what other people think of them. Also, this article goes on to talk about the myth of the elderly being incompetent, but the reality is that many elderly people, even in the early stages of dementia,
The best way to do this is to learn about groups different from yoursand recognize your limitations and the need to refer clients on occasion. This also helps the way a person discusses issues and problems. We should be aware if the problem resides in the individual or the environment. We should also improve our awareness, knowledge, and skills to work with clients who are culturally different from you. It should be our lifetime task to avoid stereotyping any group or individual while trying to learn as much as possible anout various cultural groups. Also keep in mind that everyone is unique. Worldview is how people view humanity and the world. We should listen to the client and respect their worldview. Diversity is endemic to races and ethnicities. Race, religion, ability, disability will always be important to learn more about our widely diverse populations. We also need to give special attention to how socioeconomic ractors, racism, sexism, heterosexism, and other oppressive forces may influence a client's worldview. We should increase our own awareness, knowledge, and skills to understand our clients point of view. Attend and listen to undersyand and learn the worldview of others as they tell you their stories. Be mindful of the history of the culture bias and impact of discrimination on the client. Over time we will expand our knowledge and skills with
As part of the course requirements, I had the privilege to interview four individuals, who belong to the age group of above sixty years. The interview was structured to identify the issues that they face, the most disturbing issues that they encounter and the comfort factor that they have.
Culture diversity includes gender, faith, sexual orientation, profession, age, socioeconomic status, disability, ethnicity and race. As a future health care provider as an occupational therapy assistant, I will have to understand and apply the value of cultural sensitivity that will allow me to understand and work with individuals from varieties of cultures other than my own. Being able to accept the cultural differences and the ability to adapt is an important skill to inherit to develop a strong relationship with your patients and maximizes the quality of care for your patients. Majority of the patients that comes for therapy are either lower class or middle class working individuals who got hurt during work. Coming from a lower class and middle class family, I understand how important their job is for them to support their family. It motivates me to provide them the best therapy that I can possibly offer in order for them to recover and get back to work as soon as possible. By understanding and knowing the value of each culture, it will benefit and assist us to provide quality care for our patients and at the same time being respectful and appreciative of cultural diversity in the
It is always helpful to have some type of knowledge in case you meet or begin working with a person who is a member of a diverse group. If ever I encounter someone whose diversity I am not familiar with, I ask him or her questions to learn more. I do my best not to offend them by asking general questions and let them lead the conversation. I usually start off by asking where a person is from and go from there. I make it a point to let them know that I am always interested in learning about diverse groups so that they know I am curious about their culture.
Understanding your patients begins with understanding yourself. My experiences as a biracial individual have given me a perspective that allows me to relate to complex issues that patients face. I understand culture in a different way because I have not only learned about it, but I have lived it. I have experienced discrimination due to being biracial and have lost a loved one to a debilitating disease. I have worked with unique patient populations, including adolescents with HIV and homeless adults. I have held multiple leadership positions within the Asian American Student Union and have immersed myself within the cultural communities on campus. As a medical professional, I want to focus my practice on community service and create a patient
My views on cultural diversity are that if you are not informed and educated on diversity you can’t be an effective social worker. Understanding diversity is an important part of help clients. If a social worker don’t understand individual’s different beliefs, morals, and values it makes it hard for them to develop an effective plan of action. Having knowledge of different cultures helps create sustainable collaborative partnerships between the social worker and client or community. UNE mission of the School of Social Work is “to educate a diverse community of professional social workers,” which will meet the needs of diverse communities.
Aside from these challenges, the care of elderly patients becomes more compromised by the negative attitudes and thinking of healthcare professionals about aging. In the field of gerontology, this phenomenon is termed as ageism. This pertains to the occurrence of discrimination against people due to their increased age (Corner, Brittain & Bond, 2007). In a cultural context, ageism is manifested as undervaluing of older adults in society. The term also refers to the false beliefs and stereotypes of elderly individuals which poorly categorize them (Topaz et al., 2013). Studies have shown that older people have experiences with other individuals who wrongly made judgments about them solely based