In medical practice, it is often emphasized that physicians must practice cultural competence in an attempt to achieve better diagnosis, intervention and treatment via approaching the patient in a holistic manner. Regrettably, the definition of cultural competence and let alone culture is often mistakenly interpreted, nor is it unified. Borrowing from Greon’s ideas, Wilson argues that “differing understandings of cultural competence present challenges in terms of accurately and reliably capturing its meaning, making its measurement problematic” (Greon as cited in Wilson, 208, p.14). This essay will tease out the subtleties in efforts to elucidate any misunderstandings around term ‘culture’ from an anthropological perspective, whilst exploring its relevance to medical practice. …show more content…
To begin with, culture can be defined as an anthropological unit that groups together individuals with shared …show more content…
This can range from a microscopic level of a department at a hospital or between countries. In this particular paper, medicine refers to European practices, however, other countries may have different ways of approaching medicine, as Gaines and Davis-Floyd suggest, “biology is relative, not constant and universal in its normal or pathological states as Biomedicine asserts” (Gaines & Davis-Floyd, 2004, p100), indicating that depending on the culture that the medical facility is established in, there are different sets of ideologies that will affect the way in which the institutions will operate at what type of guidelines they will
After taking the self-assessment survey for quality and culture, I would like to improve and understand how cultural competence can have a real impact on clinical outcomes. Taking from some of the questions I answered wrong, it make me wants to be cultural competent. There are a few questions I am surprised and shocked, that I answered them incorrectly. I do understand that with training, I will start to gain cultural competence but it will take consistent individual practice on my part to develop and maintain individual cultural competence. Cultural competence can lead to, health literacy, health equity, and fewer diagnostic errors, which might help the patient expand their choices and access high quality medical providers because patient
After reading Dr. Galanti 's articles about culturally competent healthcare please answer the following questions: What did you gain from reading Dr. Galanti 's article? Dr. Galanti provides insight into the relationship between cultural diversity and heath care providers. Dr. Galanti’s briefly states the difference between “stereotype and generalization”. The author recognizes that generalization may be a key factor used by workers in the health care community to bring awareness and a better understanding of cultural differences among patients. The article explains that although cultures differ in values, traditions, and beliefs, there are questions (the 4’C’s of culture) that may open up the line of communication, between provider and
Cultural competency can be described as the ability to interact with different cultures in a positive manner. Many cultural differences can become apparent in a number of situations. According to Fadiman, doctors have a moral duty to save lives even if they don’t agree with the values or beliefs of someone else’s culture (1997). This paper will address the topic of cultural competency, with a concentration on the importance of cultural competency in the medical field. It is hard to imagine how frustrating it may be to come across a patient that resists a professional’s opinion because they have solid beliefs or do not understand what doctors are attempting to convey.
It is crucial that we understand ourselves, our culture and our world, but it is at the same time crucial that we are open to new philosophies, opinions and ideas. No one culture, race, or group, is superior, and it is not until we have an understanding of this that we are truly able to flourish as a society. “… the culture of biomedicine is equally powerful. If you can’t see that your own culture has its own set of interests, emotions, and biases, how can you expect to deal successfully with someone else’s culture” (Fadmin, 1997, 261) It is critical to understand the value of your culture, in each culture we have different interests, ideas, and values, things that are important to us.
Cultural competency is increasingly important in healthcare today. In America today, we are facing a lot of tension between cultures today. America is a very diverse country with many cultures co-existing and in order to properly care for patients professionals need to be able to understand and tend to their cultural needs. Whether it be a difference in language, understanding that someone is a veteran and how that may affect them psychologically, or any other set of circumstances that surround a specific culture. Having the knowledge and resources that cater to different cultures makes for better experiences across the board and, consequently, makes for more effective healthcare visits.
In health care today, there are many different cultures found in our patient population. Patients often have difficulty conforming to medical regimens due to their cultural beliefs and practices. Completing a comprehensive cultural assessment is the key to understanding the specific components of their culture to facilitate effective and efficient nursing care. In this paper I will describe the key components of a comprehensive cultural assessment. Two of the components will be discussed in relation to the Afghan culture and how that impacts providing culturally diverse care.
Cultural competency is vital when working with diverse populations in health care because of all of the different cultures and ethnicities prevalent in our country. America is a true melting pot, and the acculturation which inevitably occurs, is an important aspect of assimilation. Since communication is a key objective in the prognosis of various ailments, the healthcare experience is reliant on today's health professionals to have an adept understanding of a multicultural environment. A regulatory dilemma which is common in today's culture, is the alienation of groups that are not understood by our healthcare system. These patients often resort to self care , which often leads to serious complications and other health issues as a result
Individual cultures and belief must be recognized and respected. Cultural understanding is the extensive logic to be cognizance, attentive and application of information and knowledge associated with ethnicity, culture, gender, or sexual coordination in clarifying and appreciative circumstances and reactions of individuals in their environment. Critical assessment on each of the patient individually is very important and cultural assumptions concerning patient 's beliefs or health practices should be avoid. Several areas should be considered when assessing cultural beliefs of patients, such as individual insight of illness and management, the social organization comprising family, communication activities, pain expression, general health care beliefs, previous experience with care, and language. Cultural practices associated with nonverbal communication in the course of conversation are very important.
THE CONGO Greg Foster II United Sates Army The Democratic Republic of the Congo also known as Zaire, DR Congo, DRC, DROC, Congo-Kinshasa, East Congo or simply the Congo. It is the second largest country in Africa and the 11th largest country in world. With a population of over 78 million, the Democratic Republic of the Congo is the fourth most-populated nation in Africa and the 17th most populated country in the world. I will be informing you about the Congo culture, five major characteristics that define culture, the common culture characteristics of the Congo as well as some military history pertaining to the Congo region. Culture is defined as the customary beliefs, social forms, and material traits of a racial, religious, or social group; also: the characteristic features of everyday existence (such as diversions or a way of life) shared by people in a place or time Culture has five basic characteristics:
Culture is what is brought up into society, but as time progresses, the more we restrain from it. Hence, it only exists in our minds. It is still being held up today but not as quite the same as the primitive days. It is the non-materialistic, materialistic and diversity that forms a people’s way of life.
The way a person thinks about health, “whether that is our ‘philosophy’, our ‘worldview’, our ‘framework’ influences what we do as individuals in practice,” as well as how we deliver the health service. These elements allow us to think about healthcare in our own culturally acceptable way, this isn’t always an acceptable way of delivering the service to people with views different to our own. Cultural competence is an approach that aids in influencing the service and the education of healthcare professionals. (Taylor, K., & Guerin, P., 2010). Cultural competence is defined as a knowledge and understanding of cultures, histories and contemporary realities and awareness of protocols, combined with the proficiency to engage and work effectively in a cultural context congruent to the expectations of the people of that culture.
Cultural competency: Indians Culture competency is defined as one has the knowledge, the abilities and the skill to deliver care congruent with the patient’s cultural beliefs and practices (Purnell, 2013). As a nurse or a health care provider, increasing ones consciousness of culture diversity improves the possibilities for health care practitioners to provide competent care (Purnell, 2013). Nurses and all health care providers should be aware of other cultures to provide the best care that they can for that individual. Developing a relationship with diverse cultural groups involves good interpersonal skills and the application of knowledge and techniques learned from the physical, biological, and social sciences as well as the humanities (Purnell, 2013). I am choosing to select the Indian culture for my first assignment.
The practice of health care includes many scenarios that have to do with making adequate decisions when it comes to a patient’s life, and the way they are treated. Having an ethical code in all health care organizations is very important, because it helps health care workers with reaching a suited and ethical decision when it comes to the patient. In health care, patient will always be put first, and their autonomy will always be respected. Nevertheless, when there is a situation where a patient might be in harm, or might be making their condition worse because of the decisions they made. Health care workers will always be there to
How are the Socio-Cultural Issues of Social Disadvantage and Cultural Diversity Understood and Represented in the Australian Education System? Issues of social disadvantage, particularly those associated with socio-economic and cultural diversity, are still not adequately understood or represented in the Australian education system. A short investigation into this issue indicates that not only are students from lower socio-economic backgrounds and certain cultural backgrounds experiencing education inequity and struggling to achieve success, but that in addition the current education system may even be perpetuating this situation, and contributing to the alienation of these students (Ewing, 2013. p.73).
Culture is a very vast and complicated term. As a result, it is extremely difficult to provide an all encompassing definition. In layman terms, culture is used to refer to symbolic markers used by societies to differentiate and distinguish themselves from other societies. These symbolic markers range from religion to customs and traditions to something as basic as language and clothes. Basically culture is a way of living.