Assumption 1: The focus of cultural competence, in practice, has historically been on individual providers. However, counselors will not be able to sustain culturally responsive treatment without the organization's commitment to support and allocate resources to promote these practices.
For counselors, specific cognitions, attitudes, and behaviors characterize the path to culturally competent counseling and culturally responsive services. Exhibit 1-2 depicts the continuum of thoughts and behaviors that lead to cultural competence in the provision of treatment.
Before counselors begin to probe the cultures, races, and ethnicities of their clients and use this information to improve client treatment, the consensus panel recommends first that counselors examine and understand their own cultural histories, racial and ethnic heritages, and cultural values and beliefs.
To advocate effectively for cultural competency, nurses need the following skills: - Willingness to serve as a change agent - Commitment to diversity and provision of quality of care to all, regardless of personal characteristics.
Cultural competence encourages the acknowledgement and acceptance of differences in appearance, behavior and culture. In this field, you will encounter diverse clients from a wide range of backgrounds.
The National Education Association (NEA) defines cultural competence as “the ability to success- fully teach students who come from cultures other than our own.”2 Cultural competence involves interpersonal awareness, cultural knowledge, and a skill set that together promotes impactful cross-cultural teaching.
Cultural competence — loosely defined as the ability to understand, appreciate and interact with people from cultures or belief systems different from one's own — has been a key aspect of psychological thinking and practice for some 50 years.
Overall, cultural competence has three important components: active listening, demonstrating empathy, and effective engagement.
People who are culturally competent share a variety of attributes. Each of these helps the person to produce better outcomes for themselves and others. For educators, cultural competence helps students achieve at higher levels and helps students be prepared for college and careers in the 21st century.
1. Culturally competent teaching and learning facilitates critical reflection. A critical analysis of one's own cultural assumptions is foundational to culturally-responsive teaching and learning. Critical reflection on tightly held cultural assumptions is necessary to dislodge misconceptions and stereotypes.
Cultural competence in social work entails understanding the cultural differences of people in need of social services. Social workers who demonstrate cultural competence strive to understand the cultures of the people they serve and approach them with cultural sensitivity and respect.
Social workers need to be able to move from being aware of their own cultural heritage to becoming aware of the cultural heritage of others. This cultural awareness enables them to value and celebrate differences in others as well as to demonstrate comfort with cultural differences.
Cultural competence in the workplace can help managers and employees better communicate and coordinate with co-workers and clients. This can increase engagement and productivity.
The goal of cultural competence in health care settings is to reduce racial, economic, ethnic, and social disparities when meeting a community’s health care needs. Developing a culturally competent health care environment starts with awareness of one’s own cultural background and experiences and the need to limit their influence when interacting ...
Development of Leadership Skills in Cultural Competence 1 Cultural awareness refers to the process of self-examination that allows health care leaders to understand their own cultural backgrounds and address any biases they may have toward individuals from other cultures. 2 Cultural knowledge involves the ongoing process of health care professionals seeking to better understand the languages, cultures, and belief systems of their patients. 3 Cultural skills consist of doctors and nurses being able to examine patients according to a culturally based assessment and collect culturally relevant data. 4 Cultural encounter is the process of a health care professional interacting with a patient from a culturally diverse background. 5 Cultural desire revolves around the willingness of health care professionals to engage in cultural encounters with cultural awareness.
Providing culturally competent health care requires frequent and consistent outreach to the community. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) provides a guide to help hospitals establish partnerships with individuals, groups, and organizations to promote healthy lifestyles.
Another benefit of incorporating cultural competence in health care is that organizations can focus on providing new disease management and prevention programs based on the patients they serve.
Focusing on Patients’ Social, Cultural, and Linguistic Needs. The American Nurses Association (ANA) Code of Ethics states that nurses must “practice with compassion and respect for the inherent dignity, worth, and unique attributes of every person.”.
Cultural encounter is the process of a health care professional interacting with a patient from a culturally diverse background. Cultural desire revolves around the willingness of health care professionals to engage in cultural encounters with cultural awareness.
Nursing leaders such as nurse practitioners respond to inequalities in the provision of health care services by redoubling their efforts to build healthy communities for everyone, regardless of cultural background or economic status.
The Cultural Orientation Resource Center , funded by the U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration, is a useful resource for clinicians to gain information about topics including culture, resettlement experiences, and historical and refugee background information. This site is also quite useful for refugees. It provides refugee orientation materials and guidance in establishing housing, language, transportation, education, and community services, among other pressing refugee concerns.
Culture is defined by a community or society. It structures the way people view the world. It involves the particular set of beliefs, norms, and values concerning the nature of relationships, the way people live their lives, and the way people organize their environments. Culture is a complex and rich concept. Understanding it requires a willingness to examine and grasp its many elements and to comprehend how they come together. Castro (1998) identified the elements generally agreed to constitute a culture as: 1 A common heritage and history that is passed from one generation to the next. 2 Shared values, beliefs, customs, behaviors, traditions, institutions, arts, folklore, and lifestyle. 3 Similar relationship and socialization patterns. 4 A common pattern or style of communication or language. 5 Geographic location of residence (e.g., country; community; urban, suburban, or rural location). 6 Patterns of dress and diet.
SES in the United States is related to many factors, including occupational prestige and education, yet it is primarily associated with income level. Thus, SES affects culture in several ways, namely through a person's ability to accumulate material wealth, access opportunities, and use resources. Discrimination and historical racism have led to lasting inequalities in SES ( Weller et al. 2012; Williams and Williams-Morris 2000 ). SES affects mental health and substance use. From 2005 to 2010, adults 45 through 64 years of age were five times more likely to have depression if they were poor ( National Center for Health Statistics 2012 ). Serious mental illness among adults living in poverty has a prevalence rate of 9.1 percent ( SAMHSA 2010 ). Some research demonstrates higher risk for schizophrenia from lower socioeconomic levels, but other studies draw no definite conclusion ( Murali and Oyebode 2010 ). Most literature suggests that poverty and its consequences, including limited access to resources, increase stress and vulnerability among individuals who may already be predisposed to mental illness. Often, theoretical discussions explaining a significant relationship between mental illness and SES suggest a bidirectional relationship in which stress from poverty leads to mental illness vulnerability and/or mental illness leads to difficulty in maintaining employment and sufficient income.
Chapter 2 addresses the development of cultural awareness and describes core competencies for counselors and other clinical staff, beginning with self-knowledge and ending with skill development.
For example, some clients are willing to think of themselves as spiritual but not necessarily religious. Religion is organized, with each religion having its own set of beliefs and practices designed to organize and further its members' spirituality. Spirituality , on the other hand, is typically conceived of as a personal matter involving an individual's search for meaning; it does not require an affiliation with any religious group ( Cook 2004 ). People can have spiritual experiences or develop their own spirituality outside of the context of an organized religion.
Language is a key element of culture, but speaking the same language does not necessarily mean that people share the same cultural beliefs. For example, English is spoken in Australia, Canada, Jamaica, India, Belize, and Nigeria, among other countries. Even within the United States, people from different regions can have diverse cultural identities even though they speak the same language. Conversely, those who share an ethnicity do not automatically share a language. Families who immigrated to this country several generations earlier may identify with their culture of origin but no longer be able to speak its language. English is the most common language in the United States, but 18 percent of the total population report speaking a language other than English at home ( Shin and Bruno 2003 ).
To complicate matters, some Caucasian people— notably some Asian Indians—are typically counted as Asian ( U.S. Census Bureau 2001a ). Many subgroups of White Americans (of European, Middle Eastern, or North African descent) have had very different experiences when immigrating to the United States.
It can loosely be defined as the ability to respect, engage, and understand individuals who have different cultural or belief systems, where the elements of culture include, but are not limited to: age, ethnicity, gender identity, gender expression, geographic location, language, political status, race, ...
There might not be a consensus, but as a provider of social services promoting cultural competence will enable you to better meet the needs of the individuals, children, and families you serve. Understanding your community and those you serve facilitates stronger partnerships, resulting in higher quality programs and service delivery.
That is why having a board that reflects the demographics of the community it serves is so crucial. It’s no secret that board recruitment can be a challenge.
The National Center for Cultural Competency (NCCC) aims to promote health and mental health equity through the promotion of culturally and linguistically competent service delivery systems and offers a variety of resources and publications geared towards the promotion of cultural competence.
fosters stakeholder engagement and empowerment. ensures strategic initiatives, goals, and objectives to be culturally appropriate and inclusive of community needs. supports the recruitment and retention of a diverse and inclusive governing body and workforce. creates a safe and supportive environment that accepts and respects diversity.
Here are just a few of the many benefits, it: 1 fosters stakeholder engagement and empowerment 2 ensures strategic initiatives, goals, and objectives to be culturally appropriate and inclusive of community needs 3 supports the recruitment and retention of a diverse and inclusive governing body and workforce 4 creates a safe and supportive environment that accepts and respects diversity
Don’t be. One of the most important things for organizations to keep in mind is that cultural competence is an evolving, active process; it’s not something that is attainable overnight. In fact, some researchers say there is a cultural competency continuum.
Cultural competence is non-threatening because it acknowledges and validates who people are.
Building culturally competent organizations means changing how people think about other cultures, how they communicate, and how they operate. It means that the structure, leadership, and activities of an organization must reflect many values, perspectives, styles, and priorities. Changing how an organization looks is only the first step. A culturally competent organization also emphasizes the advantages of cultural diversity, celebrates the contributions of each culture, encourages the positive outcomes of interacting with many cultures, and supports the sharing of power among people from different cultures. To really change, an organization has to commit to continuing programming, evaluation, and the creation of a place that is inclusive of all cultures and celebrates diversity.
Integrate aspects of different cultures into all activities, rather than holding isolated "international dinners," for example. Most activities lend themselves to a multicultural approach: social events, sports, street fairs, talent shows, campaigns, neighborhood improvement projects, demonstrations, and lobbying efforts. Consciously develop projects that people from different cultures can work on together. Conduct special activities to educate everyone about different cultural concerns -- e.g. forums, conferences, panels, and organized dialogues. If activities are not attracting a diverse crowd, try running special events geared specifically to different groups, led and organized by representatives of these groups. The organization or community populations should determine the issues and events that they feel are important, so don't assume you know what is best.
Become aware of the cultural diversity of the organization. Try to understand all its dimensions and seek the commitment of those involved to nurture cultural diversity. Address the myths, stereotypes, and cultural differences that interfere with the full contribution of members .
The International & Cross-Cultural Evaluation Topical Interest Group, an organization that is affiliated with the American Evaluation Association, provides evaluators who are interested in cross-cultural issues with opportunities for professional development.
Share the work and share the power. Create systems that ensure equity in voice, responsibility, and visibility for all groups. The usual hierarchy with a group or leader in charge may create a power inequity, so create a decision-making structure in which all cultural groups have a voice at all levels. Find ways to involve everyone using different kinds of meetings, such as dialogue by phone, mail, or e-mail. Structure equal time for different groups to speak at meetings. Develop operational policies and programs that confront and challenge racism, sexism, and other forms of intolerance. Conduct criticism/self-criticism of meetings to build a common set of expectations, values, and operating methods.
It can also minimize real or perceived tokenism, paternalism, and inequality among the people who join later. Recognize that changing the appearance of your membership is only the first step in understanding and respecting all cultures. Develop and use ground rules that establish shared norms, reinforce constructive and respectful conduct, and protect against damaging behavior. Encourage and help people to develop qualities such as patience, empathy, trust, tolerance, and a nonjudgmental attitude.