Cultural Assessment Using The Giger And Davidhizar

In 1988 Giger and Davidhizar created their Transcultural Assessment Model (TAM) to facilitate “…the discovery of culturally sensitive facts… (and) provide culturally appropriate and competent care.” (Giger & Davidhizar, 2002) The TAM was developed for an undergraduate nursing curriculum to train students to assess and provide care for patients that are culturally diverse. This paper will employ the six cultural phenomena defined by TAM to assist in identifying cultural attributes of Mexican Americans that should be considered by nurses in assessment and care.

. At present blacks are about 12% of the U.S. population, Hispanics 13% and Native Americans 2%. If present trends continue, for example, minorities like blacks, Hispanics and Asians will be the majority of the population in the

In order to provide culturally appropriate care, an examination of one's personal views, beliefs, and prejudices must be examined. The first portion of this paper will examine my personal values, beliefs, biases, and prejudices. The remaining paper will analyze the African American culture relating to the Ginger and Davidhizar's Transcultural Assessment Model cited in Hood (2010). This model uses six key cultural elements that include communication, space, social organization, time, environment, and biological variations. This model provides a systematic approach for assessing culturally diverse clients. I will also discuss an aspect of care that I would

Giger and Davidhizar’s Transcultural Assessment Model is a valuable and functional assessment tool that evaluates the different cultural variables and how those variables effect health, illness and behaviors (Giger, 2013). This philosophy considers the uniqueness of each individual, understanding that the individual is unique, a product of their culture, religion, environment socioeconomic status and diversity. Giger and Dividhizar propose that, as health care providers, we need an acute awareness of the ethnicity and culture of each individual, having the knowledge and understanding to care for them as

In all psychological and biological assessment, the use of culturally attuned assessments is top priority. “We may define culturally informed psychological assessment as an approach to evaluation that is keenly perceptive of and responsive to issues of acculturation, values, identity, worldview, language, and other culture-related variables as they may impact the evaluation process or the interpretation of resulting data” (Cohen, Swerdlik, & Sturman, 2013). Through this process key individuals contribute to the understanding of the client including family, friends, and coworkers input and information. Through the use of translators and other cultural affiliates clinicians are able to demonstrate a clearer understanding, a culturally applicable assessment, and ensure that the client understands the ins and outs of the assessment process. One important aspect of the implementation of the “one size fits all approach” to culturally attuned treatment and care in our mental health facilities (Cohen, Swerdlik, & Sturman, 2013). Assessment and clinical evaluations should not be a cookie cutter experience. The amount of patients that are

Auclair, Gregory, Jeanne Batalova, and Chiamaka Nwosu. "Frequently Requested Statistics on Immigrants and Immigration in the United States." Migrationpolicy.org. Migration Policy Institute, 31 Jan. 2013. Web. 06 Jan. 2015.

While these beliefs may be strange to many African American, however they still influence the health care behavior of a good portion of their patients. For this reason, the caregiver should be familiar with them in order to deliver Culture-Sensitive Health Care to African American.

In the 1930 census, the United States Government distinguished the differences in whiteness by asking participants to

There are distinctive social rules, behaviors, interpretation rules, production rules, and proximity rules that exist in varying cultures (Taylor & Payne, 1983). This impacts how a client will address and behave towards a clinician depending on their background. Within this bias fall misunderstanding and misinterpretation due to what is acceptable in one culture versus what is acceptable in another culture (Taylor & Payne, 1983). Situational biases develop from the pragmatics aspect of language, reflecting the possibility of response variability based upon the situation, the audience, and the topic (Taylor & Payne, 1983). Next, the article discussed directions or format bias, which reveals the faults within the framework of test materials. The format of certain tests and the directions within the test usually do not consider various cultures, and may not be relevant to some cultures. The article gives the example of Chicano children who have field-dependent orientation to cognition; they may not know how to respond to an assessment question that deviates from the norms within their culture (Taylor & Payne, 1983). For example, it’s like taking

In the 1930 census, the United States Government distinguished the differences in whiteness by asking participants to write down

Recognizing that ethnic identity is only one facet of diversity. My clinical practices involve serving many individuals who have diverse personal and cultural identities. During case conceptualization I routinely ask clients to describe their own values and perspectives to add to my understanding while increasing their comfort. As I serve an increasingly diverse population, keen observation and feedback from clients will continue to illuminate pathways to expanding my awareness and understanding. I see no end to my professional journey to provide culturally responsive

The development of the Giger and Davidhizar Transcultural Assessment Model (GDTAM) came about because of nursing students’ need to provide culturally diverse care for patients. The model acknowledges that each culture is individually unique and assesses them according to six phenomena: communication, space, social organization, time, environmental control, and biological variations. In this model “nurses must use transcultural nursing knowledge as a skill and an art to provide care to diverse populations in a culturally appropriate and competent manner” (Sagar, 2012, p. 57). It goes on to discuss how the model sees cultural competence as “a dynamic process implemented by an individual or health care agency by using significant interventions based on the client’s ‘cultural

Throughout this paper I will be pulling information from the Giger and Davidhizar Transcultural Assessment Model. It is pertinent for health care workers to be familiar with this model because of the growing affects that culture has on a patient’s view of disease prevention and health restoration. This model focuses on six cultural phenomena: communication, time, space, social organization, environmental control, and biological variations. It is important for nurses to utilize this tool while performing assessments on patients because of the substantial effects that each one has on a patient’s perspective. Every person is unique and knowing that no one perspective is universal will aid the nurse in treating each patient with culturally competent care.

The Transcultural Assessment Model, developed by Giger and Davidhizar (2006), focuses on assessment and intervention from a transcultural nursing perspective. In this model, the person is seen as a unique cultural being influenced by culture, ethnicity, and

The United States Census Bureau announced that Negro would be included on the 2010 United States Census, alongside Black and African-American, because some older black Americans still self-identify with the