Model Of Cultural Competence

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.

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.

I enjoyed reading your thoughtful discussion post on cultural competency of organizations and nurses. Your rationale for both the organization and the individual nurse being responsible to ensure culturally competent care was similar to mine. For example, I mentioned the need for nursing curriculums at all levels of nursing education to provide competency training (American Academy of Colleges of Nursing website, 2011).

Some of the author’s major points are the lack of understanding of what cultural competence really means which is bringing confusion about ways it can be utilized in the social work field. The confusion of the utilization of cultural competence is leading to the lack of consensus concerning the effective training that providers should obtain and the population being served with the cultural competence skills lack clear description. According to the author, the most popular cultural competence intervention in the healthcare system is the cultural competency training which is for health care providers and the two approaches that have been utilized in creating the intervention are; the programs aimed at improving knowledge which is group specific,

In this great nation we live in today that has been vastly increasing diversity bring so many great opportunities. But with these great opportunities there are also challenges that are continually looked over constantly. One of the challenges is our health care system that fails to deliver culturally competent services. Cultural competency helps to enable providers to deliver services that are respectful to diverse patients. This helps with patients own health beliefs, practices and cultural and linguistic needs. This is why this training is needed in every health facility. Many doctors go through this problem not understanding their patient’s needs. If I were a doctor I would use this skill. Certain racial and ethnic minorities receive poorer

Arthur H. Woodard, Jr., MSW Soulhelp@me.com Jim Wuelfing, NRPP Jim.Wuelfing@gmail.com  Name?  From where?  Doing what?  Why here?

I would have to rate our school between cultural precompetence and cultural competence depending on the year in question and even the time of year. We are aware that we have achievement gaps in our minority populations, particularly our African American and special education students. When test scores come back and we see the lack of progress for these special groups, we have meetings and provided professional development on differentiation and small group instruction. Only one year did I participate in a professional development where an expert on teaching African American led the discussion. Usually staff development sessions are more generalized.

Cultural competent? What is the big deal? “The term cultural competence is used to describe a set of skills, values and principles that acknowledge, respect and work towards optimal interactions between the individual and the various cultural and ethnic groups that an individual might come in contact with” (HumanServicesEDU, para. 1). Being able to understand and effectively understand other cultures than your own, can make a huge difference in the patient’s treatment and how well the case manager can do his or her job.

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

Understand cultural competence and why is it important especially for that have a diverse workforce.

Griner & Smith (2006) agree that the increasing cultural issues have shed a light on the importance of improving the accessibility as well as the overall quality of services for individuals from all cultural backgrounds. As Gillum (2008) explains, culturally specific interventions are targeted specifically for a certain population. Not only do they use the same language that matches the culture, the staff members are often from that culture as well. The interventions are designed with the help of individuals from that culture so they can include “their culture-specific values, norms, attitudes, expectations, and customs” (Gillum, 2008, p. 921). Research also indicates that utilizing culturally specific interventions is important in reconnecting individuals with their own cultural beliefs and values as well, as a support network (Gillum, 2008).

Cultural competence is not a new anomaly in nursing. Cultural competence is the ability to provide essential care to patients with backgrounds and belief systems different from our own. Being culturally sensitive is an important part of nursing practice and most employers of nurses usually have diversity training to help facilitate awareness at their healthcare facility. Diversity is prevalent in our society and we only need to look around at the peers we work with and the patients we care for to clearly understand this fact. Cultural differences and the lack of self-awareness about our own attitudes, beliefs, and biases, can negatively affect the nurse-patient communication, the patient’s quality of care, and their health outcome. The

For the purpose of this assignment the author has chosen to critique video A “interpreting the message”. There are a variety of different models developed to aid Nurses and midwives provide the best care to all patients, regardless of their culture. Our world is changing and moving across countries and continents has never been easier. In response to this changing world, nursing in many countries is embracing a framework of transcultural skills and knowledge. This is leading to culturally competent nursing care (Papadopoloulos , 2002).

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.

Defined as the ability of providers and organizations to effectively deliver health care services that meet the social, cultural and linguistic needs (Georgetown University, 2004) Cultural competence is an ideal that spans across not only healthcare, but also law enforcement. Utilizing the same mindset as the healthcare industry, law enforcement has the dubious task of deciphering how to provide a service meant for all and ensure that the needs of all citizens and businesses are met. According to Terry Cross (1988), culturally competent agencies are characterized by acceptance and respect for difference, continuing self-assessment regarding culture, careful attention to the dynamics of difference, continuous expansion of cultural knowledge and resources, and a variety of adaptations to service models in order to better meet the needs of minority populations. The culturally competent agency works to hire unbiased employees, seeks advice and consultation from the minority community and actively decides what it is and is not capable of providing to minority clients.