TIL: Culturally Competent Care

TIL: Culturally Competent Care

There are many ways a person's cultural background can create a barrier in their plan of care. One example is language. There are thousands of languages spoken all around the world. No two languages are the same. One must be competent of the differences in definitions of words across languages. Another possible barrier would be the beliefs of the cultural group. For instance, a tribe of Native Americans believe that transplants of blood, organs, tissue, etc is defiling the body and do not believe in it. A third barrier that could obstruct the intended plan of care is body language. Gestures, eye contact, physical contact, and other types of body language all mean different things in different cultures. 

The most important thing in this document is do try to understand people's values, since they will influence their behavior. Understanding beliefs is the most important part of culturally competent care. Without understanding the beliefs it is extremely difficult to incorporate them into the patient's plan of care. Many of the other points in this document start with "don't judge". I think that in itself is the second most important part of culturally competent care. Judging in general makes the patient wary of their physician or direct treating health professional. 

The most important element of the "10 tips for improving patient-provider rerlationship" is don't assume. We all know what happens when you assume......The second most important is allow the patient to be completely open and honest. If the patient cannot be honest about their beliefs in relevance to their plan of care or treatment, they will not be willing to comply. One would not know how to incorporate their beliefs into their treatment if the patient does not feel comfortable sharing them.