What is Cultural Competence?
Before learning about how to gain cultural competence, it is important to have a foundational understanding of what cultural competence is.
Envision a woman who strictly follows Islamic beliefs. Say that the woman has diabetes and seeks insulin from a healthcare professional.
Cultural competence would be demonstrated in this scenario by the healthcare professional clearly explaining the ingredients in the insulin to the woman, knowing that those who follow the faith of Islam have certain dietary restrictions. If the woman is not okay with non-halal insulin, the provider will know to recommend non-porcine synthetic insulin or another halal option (Qureshi).
Now picture a scenario in which a patient who follows the teachings of Confucius is recommended surgery. Cultural competence would be displayed in this situation by the healthcare professional being understanding of the patient’s hesitance of surgery.
The healthcare professional would have an underlying knowledge of Confucianism beliefs about keeping the physical body whole and sound and would respect why the individual would not want to undergo such a procedure (Spector 9e 176). Additionally, the healthcare provider would be aware if the patient had any preference of herbal treatments or natural procedures, and with this in mind, the healthcare provider and the patient could work together to seek viable alternatives.
It is extremely important to recognize that the healthcare professional does not assume or stereotype these patients based on their appearance or faith and merely respects the patients’ decisions and understands their reasoning in these examples. These two hypothetical scenarios also emphasize the underlying knowledge the physician must possess along with the correct application of that knowledge.
This in turn will lead to a better patient-provider relationship, and the patient will be more likely to comply with the medical regimens suggested by the physician. The situations described above are just some out of the many demonstrations of cultural competence in a healthcare setting.
Some concrete definitions essential to understanding and gaining cultural competence are as follows:
Culturally competent: Within the delivered care, the provider understands and attends to the total context of the patient’s situation, and this is a complex combination of knowledge, attitudes, and skills (Spector 9e 10).
Culturally appropriate: The provider applies the underlying background knowledge that must be possessed to provide a patient with the best possible health/healthcare (Spector 9e 10).
Culturally sensitive: The provider possesses some basic knowledge and constructive attitudes toward the health traditions observed among the diverse cultural groups found in the setting in which he or she is practicing (Spector 9e 10).
Culture: The set of shared attitudes, values, goals, and practices that characterizes an institution or organization (Merriam-Webster 2020).
Ethnicity: an ethnic group; a social group that shares a common and distinctive culture, religion, language, or the like (dictionary.com 2020).
Religion: a specific fundamental set of beliefs and practices generally agreed upon by a number of persons and sects (dictionary.com 2020).
Want to learn more about what cultural competence is? Here are a few of my favorite websites that give further clarity on this concept:
By: Sreenidhi Saripalli
