In: Nursing
Culutral Awareness in healthcare topic reflection paragraphes
what they do ?
How Important is Cultural Awareness to Healthcare?
CULTURAL AWARENESS CHECKLIST?
How it impact patients
What is there cares ?
How they support patients
1) Culture is a complex concept. It includes people’s beliefs,
values, behaviors, and ways of understanding their world. In
medicine, managing cultural differences including customs is
essential to providing high quality health care. One challenge is
that patients may not realize they have customs that could
jeopardize their wellness. Culture is largely invisible to people
who share it. But to outsiders, the customs and ways of life of
different cultures are often obvious and sometimes strange.
Cultural awareness is the ability to perceive our own cultural
beliefs, values, and customs, and to understand how they shape our
decisions and behavior. Cultural awareness requires us to step back
and look at ourselves as if through a stranger’s eyes, and to open
our minds to different ways of doing things. Margaret Mead
described it best when she explained the core value of
anthropology: to make the familiar strange, and the strange
familiar.Cultural awareness on the part of both practitioner and
patient is key to identifying cultural barriers to medical
care.Culture influences patients responses to illness and
treatment. In our multicultural society, different customs can lead
to confusion and misunderstanding, which erode trust and patient
adherence. Here are three examples from my career that show how
deeply culture impacts medical care.
2) Besides reducing medical errors, enhancing data collection and
improving preventive care among patients,Becker's Hospital Review
suggests culturally aware healthcare builds mutual respect and
understanding that increases patient trust, promotes more inclusive
health responsibilities and expands patient inclusion.In medicine,
managing cultural differences including customs is essential to
providing high quality health care. One challenge is that patients
may not realize they have customs that could jeopardize their
wellness. Culture is largely invisible to people who share
it.
3) Having cultural sensitivity is important when you travel, of
course. You want to demonstrate respect and appreciation for the
culture of the people in the place you're visiting. This helps grow
your understanding of your new surroundings, and makes your time
spent there more meaningful.
In medicine,managing cultural differences including customs is
essential to providing high quality health care. One challenge is
that patients may not realize they have customs that could
jeopardize their wellness. Culture is largely invisible to people
who share it.
4) Establish clear communication.Be aware of non-verbal cues
without jumping to conclusions.Ask openly about potentially
relevant traditions and customs.Use normalizing statements.Examine
your own biases.
5) Besides reducing medical errors, enhancing data collection and
improving preventive care among patients, Becker's Hospital Review
suggests culturally aware healthcare builds mutual respect and
understanding that increases patient trust, promotes more inclusive
health responsibilities and expands patient inclusion.
6) The increasing diversity of the nation brings opportunities and
challenges for health care providers, health care systems, and
policy makers to create and deliver culturally competent services.
Cultural competence is defined as the ability of providers and
organizations to effectively deliver health care services that meet
the social, cultural, and linguistic needs of patients.A culturally
competent health care system can help improve health outcomes and
quality of care, and can contribute to the elimination of racial
and ethnic health disparities. Examples of strategies to move the
health care system towards these goals include providing relevant
training on cultural competence and cross-cultural issues to health
professionals and creating policies that reduce administrative and
linguistic barriers to patient care.
7) Cultural competence in healthcare basically is our ability to
provide care to patients with diverse backgrounds, values, and
behaviors. Key to such patient-centered care is the ability to
engage and educate people about their health need and how to
address them.This goes deeper than just speaking their language to
understanding even embracing their beliefs and culture, which may
include herbal remedies and/or healers. Beth Lincoln, MSN, RN, NP,
who teaches a transcultural approach to nursing, suggests that
listening and considering a patient’s ideas, then creating a plan
of care built around the patients culture, tends to provide care
that leads to more successful and beneficial outcomes.