Core Concepts in Cultural Competence

Within the Asian culture, people do not openly display their feelings or emotions toward others. The reason for this would be due to what they call the “protective front," or a public mask, which is used to meet their political expectations (Shiraev & Levy, 2010). When examining other cultures, a therapist must take into account the individual’s beliefs. An example of this is Japan’s respect for history and spiritual practice. Their practice is not shared as strictly in American culture, where many families do not practice religion or husband and wife may be of different religion and allow children to make their own spiritual decisions.

The amount of people who live with disabilities is a controversial number. Depending on what law and diagnostic tools used, a person may have a visible disability, or one that may lie beneath the surface of his or her appearance. Some people believe that the term “disability” is merely a label use to hold back, or prescribe helplessness. Meanwhile, individuals who have been properly diagnosed with disabilities struggle to maintain respect and acceptance every day. In plain language, there is a lot of misunderstanding between people with disabilities and those without. It is firstly important to get everyone on the same page regarding the definition of disability.

Disability is a definition of a physical or mental condition which impacts on a person’s movements, activities and senses. People with disabilities were informed of bias and disadvantages compared to an ordinary person. There are many biases and prejudices contributed to the discrimination of individuals with a disability. Partly because of social connotations the disabled people are useless, cannot work. In fact, these extraordinary people always bring and do incredible things. They not only overcome their grim fate, but also bring good things to life, especially those who are perfectly considering better than an ordinary person, they are not aware of the capacity of individuals disabilities with them characteristics such as loyalty, dedication, and hard work.

Cultural competence is defined as possessing the skills and knowledge necessary to appreciate, respect, and work with individuals from different cultures. It is a concept that requires self-awareness, awareness and understanding of cultural differences, and the ability to adapt to clinical skills and practices as needed

It have been proven effective in providing services to individuals from a wide spread of diverse backgrounds. Cultural competence is understanding a set of congruent behaviors, knowledge, attitudes and policies that enable effective work in cross-cultural situations (Bazron, Cross, Dennis, & Isaacs, 1989). This means that an individual trains to understand different cultural groups. Cultural competency training is beneficial to all human service organizations because it aims to increase the knowledge and skills to improve one’s ability to efficiently serve different cultural groups therefore eliminating biases and

For us to develop cultural competence we need to have a level expertise, knowledge and attributes. When I mention Expertise I am referring to professional skills such as, being able to communicate correct information for culturally different people and their communities, the skill to candidly discuss racial and ethnic issues and to react to culturally based signs, the skill to understand the meaning that traditions/culture has for each person, Interviewing skills that help to understand and accommodate the role of language in a person’s culture and the skill to use the idea of empowerment on behalf of culturally different people and communities.

Culture is a very important aspect for health care professionals to examine when interacting with their clients. By having an understanding of different cultural practices, a clinician can more effectively treat a patient. Kagawa-Singer, M. & Kassim-Lakha, S. (2003) theorizes that patients resist lifestyle changes, and culture forms lifestyle. Therefore, if physicians attend to the influence of culture on health behavior, outcomes of medical care might well be improved.

In the field of human services, “cultural competency” has become a common buzz meant to address in part the . The intention being, that workers are able to achieve some level of knowledge and training that prepares them to work with

Cultural competence can indicate the differences that exist among various ethnic and cultural groups in our country. As a healthcare provider, it is essential to understand the diverse cultures and their values, traditions and there history, so with all these in mind we can provide high quality patient care. Recognizing these needs can be accomplished with continuous education and training. We are in a culturally diverse society where the healthcare providers need to increase their awareness and sensitivity toward different patient populations and work to understand culturally influenced health behaviors. We are interacting with many people from varied cultural origins and ethnic backgrounds who bring with them values and beliefs that can differ from our expectations. Each patient is unique in their needs so understanding these cultural differences can aid communication and thereby improve patient care. Some cultures may be offended by direct eye contact or asking personal questions that are necessary for the health history may be recognized by them as an inexcusable invasion of privacy. Patient cross-cultural communication with other cultures in a way that minimizes misunderstandings and maximizes trust between the patients and healthcare providers. To avoid any complications and to decrease the likelihood of any liability and malpractice claims, healthcare organizations should follow and meet legislative regulatory and the accreditation

The United States has become increasingly a culturally diverse society. The understanding of cultural relativism in a multicultural working environment can be of a great importance to the success or failure of an organization. What is cultural competency? Before we explain it, let’s take a step back and analyze culture, cultural diversity, and Cultural relativism.

Patients and their families bring culturally specific beliefs regarding the ideas about health and illness, reporting symptoms, expectations for the delivery of health care, and views about medication and treatment. A culturally sensitivity individual recognizes the differences between cultures and accepts them. Healthcare providers are urged to recognize, respect, and integrate clients' cultural beliefs and practices into health prescriptions (Purnell, 2005, p. 8). A failure to appreciate these differences may cause a misunderstanding or miscommunication about healthcare. Language is the foundation for effective nurse-patient relationships and is important for interpersonal and cross-cultural communication.

My understanding of the term ‘cultural competence’ is when an individual is able to acknowledge, respect, embrace and educate about different cultures. It is when one is respectful and open to a person of a different cultures beliefs and values. Cultural competency is about understanding and learning the expectations of a certain culture. I believe it is about working towards equality within the people and educating others about other cultures to work towards acceptance. Cultural competency is having the capability to communicate, understand and respect all cultures.

It is high time that people learn about different cultures to have a thorough understanding of the same and thus achieve cultural competency. This is necessary for educators, healthcare givers, attorneys, organizations and all to live in a cross-cultural world without any emotional or physical conflict. Most organizations have their presence in multiple countries and have business relations with people of different cultural groups. So, for a successful business also, cultural competency is the demand.

Recognizing how a person’s values and beliefs shape and influence how they communicate is an invaluable tool in the business world today. This knowledge helps to appropriately tailor conversations and actions to a level where all parties involved are comfortable. This awareness, understanding and sensitivity is known as cultural competence.

When looking at Description of the relevance and relationship between culture/ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and cultural competence