Cultural Competence

Cultural competence is the ability to acknowledge, understand, respect and communicate with cultures and ethnicities different from one’s own. It encourages the acceptance of individual’s differences in appearance, behavior, and culture which offers positive changes in the way people interact with others. Furthermore, it offers an awareness and sensitivity to diverse cultures that often goes unrecognized (Hanser & Gomila, 2016). By fully understanding how to effectively interact with people from diverse cultures, the individual maximizes their ability to interact, not only in professional settings with staff and clients but in our growing society as a whole. Also, being culturally competent is beneficial because while it improves interactions between people of

The demographics of the United States is changing to one that is multicultural, multiethnic, and multilingual. Culture is a vital component in the health and wellness of individuals. Culture affects individuals' beliefs, definition of health, treatments, and interaction with healthcare providers. These beliefs may affect the patient’s compliance with medication or therapy. In order to address the diverse beliefs of today’s population the advance practice nurse must be culturally competent. Barker and DeNisco (2013) defined cultural

Each one of us differs in culture; and because we differ in Culture, we individualistically perceive a situation indifferently. What is viewed by the U. S culture isn’t perceived the same from someone from a different culture. Each culture has different opinions; so how we see reality (the situation at hand) is different. Therefore, how we perceive the world isn’t really how it is because others will see it differently. And at times, we struggle to acknowledge other cultural differences, which intern leaves us to project and compare our perception of ourselves to others. Furthermore, this is why I believe cultural competence in psychology has the knowledge and skills to make a decision in someone else’s cultural context. Cultural competence in psychology has the knowledge and expertise to make a decision in someone else’s cultural context.

Most definitely, America is a melting pot, it’s amazing how much diversity there is. You’re correct “. In this industry, it is important to not be prejudice, racist, or to simply feel that your rights, views, or feelings are more important than anyone else.” As healthcare providers, your goal should be to meet the needs of everyone despite personal feelings. Teamwork is very significant when working in the health field, if that team can master the acceptance of culture differences it can lead to a positive wave throughout the rest of the organization. Yes, “To overcome any cultural or any other difference one must be culturally competent.” I feel all industries should practice being culturally competent, in working to improve health, communication,

Campinha-Bacote constructed a model that depicts cultural competence into five different areas: cultural awareness, cultural knowledge,

The knowledge of cultural competency includes gaining knowledge of the client’s culture, history, traditions, values, and family systems. It involves learning about the impact of culture on the behaviors, attitudes, values, and health status of the client. Each culture has their own help-seeking behaviors. Culturally competent therapists will understand the roles of language, speech patterns, and communication styles of different cultures.

Being competent with other cultures means that you can tolerate and understand those cultures. Many people fear this because they think that will have to change, and, to some, change is bad, but I can assure these people that change can be good. Learning about different cultures and tolerating them can be, in fact, fun.

Cultural competence begins with the recognition that we are all born, raised and living in social, educational and organizational cultures. These cultures shape our assumptions, beliefs, values and behaviors. When we interact with others, the similarities and differences between our cultural expectations often make the interaction both more interesting, and more challenging.

Chapter One of the textbook discusses the concept of Cultural proficiency as an important aspect of cultural competency. LaFromboise, Coleman, and Gerton (1993) suggest that “a culturally competent individual possesses a strong personal identity, has knowledge of the beliefs and values of the culture, and displays sensitivity to the effective processes of the culture” (Diller, p.

Cultural competence is a set of values, behaviours, beliefs, and policies that come together in a service or amid practitioners, which enables the service or practitioners to work effectively in cross-cultural systems (Sonal-Valias 2009, p. 2). Cultural competence is seen through staff delivering services consistent with the service user’s needs and values. By acknowledging the cultural beliefs, values and customs, the worker can respond to these needs in a culturally competent manner (Sonal-Valias 2009, p. 2). The cultural competence staff training project’s goal is to assist frontline workers to be able to effectively engage and communicate with clients of different cultures, in order to encourage an environment where each staff member, and

Cultural competence is something that develops as we grow as individuals. Our life experiences what shapes and influences our interactions with other cultures. The more we learn about other cultures the better we are able to understand them, which in turn will lead to an increase in positive interactions involving diverse groups.

It is clear that improved learning would result if a teacher combined Lodson-Billings’ philosophy of cultural competency with Dr. Howard Gardner’s theory of Multiple Intelligences. First, according to the theory of Multiple Intelligences, the learner acquires knowledge at his own intelligence level, which removes the “one flavor fits all” approach and allows the learner to academically flourish. At the same time, the teacher, under the assumption that all learners are “geniuses at work,” sees each learner as an individual who offers a unique contribution to the world, and commits to implementing diverse and varied learning strategies to encourage the learner. Ultimately, when the learner is comfortable in his level of competence, and the teacher

Culture is defined as a shared system of beliefs, values, and behavioral expectations that provide a social structure for daily living (Taylor, Lillis, Lynn, 2014). Culture plays a significant role in our day to day lives. How we dress, walk, talk, do our hair, perceive personal space or eye contact; our values and beliefs are all a part of our cultural differences.

In the past, I took a social work class that explained the definition of cultural competency. Cultural competency was defined to be cultural awareness of ones culture and others cultures. Therefore, through cultural awareness one will be able to empower individuals by embracing their differences and cultural identities. The term cultural competence is not a new term for me however, cultural proficiency is a new term that the textbook claimed to be a way of understanding the differences amongst cultures and how cultural proficiency can be applied in organizational practices and through the way people behave.

In studying cultural competence, it is important to acknowledge the fact that people were differently born, raised and lived in social, organizations and educational cultures. Therefore, the culture we are brought up to form a foundation on how we make assumptions, values, beliefs, values and behaviors. When people in an organization get to interact, there are many difference and similarities as pertains to their cultural expectations, and it often make the interaction between the employees be either challenging or exciting. Therefore, organizations contain people of that setting, and thus it is important to observe diversity for common understanding of one another (Barrera, 2010).