Reflective Reflection On Race

As I reflect on the context of this course, I have gained new insights that deepened my understanding in the field of diversity, equity and social Justice. As a professional, I have learned that we can relate to other cultures through our social identities. As I mastered this course, I have become more respected to the diverse population by learning how to prepare for children and families from other cultures. Consequently, this would build their self-esteem. Furthermore, I feel that I am more equipped to apply the knowledge that I have immersed, to the young children that I serve in the Head Start and my community.

It appears to be that the discussion of race and class in America has become amplified, especially in the last couple of years. For many, it is a touchy subject that hits close to home. With the presence of social media and news that feeds off of racial tension in America, the issues are polarizing and difficult to productively discuss. America’s handling of race and class relations is generally not something to be proud of, and there exists a long history of issues with race. It is clear that there is a lack of understanding and empathy of what others experience toward those who are oppressed. So often it is too easy to dismiss another human’s experiences as reality if one has had no prior encounter with the same challenges. Race is easy to sweep under the rug, but we must address the problem, and it is not a one size fits all solution. It is a problem that has been years in the making and continues to have an enormous impact on our human capital from an economic standpoint. And most of the time, there is a correlation between race and class.

Nurses need to be culturally competent to understand what different cultures believe about health and how they value health (Maurer & Smith, 2013). By being culturally competent, a nurse is able to use the appropriate communication (verbal and non-verbal) related to the person’s culture. The appropriate communication will led to improved outcomes. Knowing a patient’s culture can increase the nurse’s knowledge to medical conditions and disorders that are related to a certain culture. Overall, if nurses are able to understand their patient’s culture, they are able to protect and advocate for their

Culture is shaped over generations through the beliefs, customs, and attitudes within a group. Additional elements also include race, language, and socioeconomic status. Given that culture influences daily behaviors and lifestyle patterns, there is clearly an impact on the well-being and health practices within various cultural groups (Riegelman, & Kirkwood, 2015). These diversities influence patient interactions in the health care delivery system. Consequently, cultural influences have led to various disparities in healthcare.

Culture includes the customs, traditions, ideas, and ways of interacting with the environment that often differ in various parts of the world. Over the last several decades in the U.S. there has been a growing awareness and tolerance of cultures other than the traditional western culture in the community. And in healthcare we are expected to provide all patients and families with the same respect and treatment, but at the same time provide individualized care. In order to meet these standards the work place environment has responded with training and education on cultural competence. The term cultural competence can be defined by the ability to respect and understand the beliefs and attitudes of

The term culture has a very broad definition that encompasses the values, beliefs, customs, religions, behaviors, traditions and the collective attitudes of a group of people (Williamson & Harrison, 2010). In 1971, Canada was one of the first countries in the world to adopt multiculturalism as a national policy (Government of Canada, 2012). Since then, Canadians have prided themselves on being accepting of cultural diversity and recognizing equal rights for all citizens, regardless of country of origin (Government of Canada, 2012). However, cultural diversity presents challenges for the health care system as people of various cultures have different expectations and requirements of healthcare (De Miao & Kemp, 2010). This is not an issue that is unique to Canada, but one that extends to all countries which encourage multiculturalism. Indeed it has been found that immigrants often experience declining health and dissatisfactory medical care compared to the native population due to issues in language, accessibility, social support, and familiarity with the health care system (Pollock, Newbold, Lafrenière & Edge, 2012; De Miao & Kemp, 2010). Therefore, there is an increased emphasis for nurses and other health care professionals to develop cultural competence. As I will show in this paper, working in a culturally diverse society requires nurses to adapt their caring strategies to cater to the cultural needs of their patients. I will then expand on how my own personal experiences

According to Andrews and Boyle (2012) culture-specific refers to what a unique set of people value, beliefs, and pattern of behavior that is very special to the group. The values, beliefs, and pattern of behavior is not shared with someone outside of the culture. Culture is defined as the way of living for a set of people. Culture plays an important role in terms of how an individual expresses meaning to life experiences and understands moral definition of sickness, diseases, suffering and death. Culture also influences the way of life of the patients, family and physician and how decisions are made in terms of health related situations. In healthcare settings, socio-cultural context determines what is considered ethical or non-ethical. The cultures of both patients and health care workers often influences how decision are made in terms of health related issues. Using this framework, A Culturally Competent Model of Care by Josepha Campinha-Bacote, that emphasis five constructs (cultural awareness, cultural knowledge, cultural skill, cultural encounter and cultural desire); there is need for one to be aware of one’s self by answering the following questions: How biased am I towards other cultural groups? Do I possess what it takes to conduct a cultural assessment in a using

As future healthcare professionals, it is our job to continue to enhance the systems approach to diversity and cultural competence in every healthcare team/setting in which we take part. Throughout this course, we have learned the importance of becoming educated and more empathetic towards the cultures and backgrounds of our treated patients. This greater understanding of specific populations and their beliefs/traditions allows for a more well-rounded, health-based relationship between patients and their providers. Establishing a rapport with clients is just as essential to overall wellness than the actual service provided by healthcare professionals. In the field of healthcare, “…fundamental change to the status quo will not happen without the active involvement of

Over the years the United States has become more culturally diverse (Haynes, 2016). As a result, it is estimated that one-third of the United States population is minorities, which the number of minorities is estimated to increase to 54% by 2050 (Haynes, 2016). Therefore, the increase in cultures can lead to or increase the health care disparities. Consequently, it is essential that health care organizations improve its cultural competency. Overall, the increased diversity in the population and the documented health care disparities have made cultural competency essential in order, to ensure that every patient receives quality health care services (Haynes, 2016). The purpose of this paper is to explore the effect of culture on health care.

Individual cultures have different views on health and healthcare as a whole. Devry, week one lesson states that American ideology “provides a lot of the foundation for our lack of understanding that differences do matter and by ignoring the existence of difference, we overlook not only the importance of cultural differences, we also overlook the value of those differences” (DeVry Week 1 Lesson, 2017 p.7).

Everyone needs health care, from the mountains of Colorado to the jungles of Liberia. Therefore, it is hard to argue that the medical community is not one of the most essential in our society. However, many people go to their doctor’s office and either complain about the paperwork, the wait, or how the staff treated them. The medical culture is paramount to our society because it serves our community by maintaining human health, analyzes health trends, deals with insurance companies and even aids low income individuals to get the proper care they require to live a healthy life.

In this documentary it started off by saying “All men are created equal “,Yes we are all creation of God ; however this is not what have been shown throughout the course of history. There is always competition of who is superior or inferior base on the skin color, hair texture of an individual, or national origins. We humans are always looking for a way to gain control of each other and put down what they would call an inferior being. Furthermore, society started to construct a story call “Race”. In the documentary they said that, race is just an idea, it is constructed by society to further certain political or economic goals. What fascinated me the most in this documentary is Thomas Jefferson who was an American founding father and also the principal author of the Declaration of independence who said all men are created equal but yet wasn’t referring to the black people as equal? He also owned a lot of slave. What I can’t really grasp is how someone can write such thing as all men are created equal but yet see the black so different. In his journal he wrote that “black are inferior to white both in body and mind.” In the documentary they also said that he was the first person to articulate the theory of race in the United States. If it wasn’t for this documentary I wouldn’t have known he was a slave owner, because in my history class all they really talked about was how he was one of the founding father and wrote the declaration of independence. They never mentioned that

Sex and gender and Race and ethnicity were two topics that really stood out to me during the course of this class. The reason those topics caught my attention was because I didn’t realize how unaware I was of all of the social problems surrounding those topics still going on today. I assumed we had already conquered racism and sexism in the 21st century with the civil rights movement with Martin Luther King jr., the 19th amendment granting women the right to vote, and women’s rights movements in the 1960s. But I was clearly blind to the amount of institutional sexism and racism that still take place in education systems, athletics, the workplace, media, health care systems etc. Such as girls receiving less teacher attention and less useful feedback than boys, girls not being seen as strong enough for certain sports, workers of color being concentrated in lower-paying jobs, members of ethnoracial minorities are less likely to have access to health insurance etc. I was fascinated with looking at the most common environments with a fresh pair of eyes and a different outlook on everyday life. Seeing how different the world I conjured up in my head is from reality was a wake up call for me to be more conscious of the unequal world we live in as well as the start of curiosity to understand how the world we live in works and why.

People of different cultures avoid going to American healthcare facilities, with fear of Western medicine techniques. When they avoid or refuse care of the physicians, the medical condition/ illness remains uncared for and leads to health disparities of that community. In order to prevent refusal of care, hospitals and healthcare providers should provide a comfortable and acceptable environment for the patient. Also, healthcare professionals should take to time to familiarize themselves with the patient’s culture to better assist the patient’s needs. Mindfulness is the key to becoming a better provider. (Sulzer 2016) Health care facilities and workers should be culturally and spiritually sensitive to different cultural backgrounds to help better serve patients; they can do this by addressing patient’s rights, effectively

There are many different cultures that we will encounter in the healthcare field on any given day. It is important to understand these differences because certain cultures have different beliefs that will affect how we develop their treatment plan. Many times these individuals need individualized care planes to meet there religious and cultural costumes. The culture I will be reflecting on in healthcare is the Chinese culture. The reflection will go through their belief system, customs, and how as healthcare professionals we will be able to provide excellent care while incorporating there needs as an individual.