Cultural Competency
"All of us are programmed by cultural ‘software’ that determines our behavior and attitudes, from whom to make eye contact
with and when to smile, to how to deal with conflict or talk to a boss."
Misinterpretations and inaccurate judgments about people can result when we
interpret another person’s behavior through our own cultural "software":
- The Arab who speaks louder and stands closer is seen as pushy.
- The Latina who drops her eyes when speaking with a boss is seen as unassertive.
- The Japanese who has an impassive facial expression is seen as inscrutable and
deceptive.
- The Filipino who confuses the pronouns he and she is thought to be uneducated.
- The Middle Easterner who takes time to chitchat before getting down to
business is seen as inefficient.
- The African-American who makes direct eye contact is seen as challenging and
aggressive."
Community clinics have been providing health care for many cultural groups where trust and
cultural understanding is how the clinic was planned and developed. Whether these
clinics can survive in a managed care climate is in question.
If they can’t survive, large managed care organizations and their teams of health care
providers must to adequately serve their clients.
The interdisciplinary team will share many universals of the "medical
culture". But our work sites are fast reflecting the fact that we are a multicultural,
multiracial and multilingual society. Often we not only do not understand
the beliefs of our patients, we also don’t understand those with whom we work. As such, team efforts at cohesion can
be complicated by misunderstandings.
It will be imperative for the success of the team that members be able to
explain their beliefs and views as they relate to each case. Agreeing with each
other’s belief is not the goal; what is important is the mutual respect and acknowledgment needed in order to
develop a care plan that will truly benefit the patient.
Some definitions may increase our objectivity about this subject:
To understand the cultural issues involved in a case, one must listen to the
patient’s and professional’s perception of the problem, be able to express a personal perception of the
problem, and negotiate agreement with a care plan.
The Cultural Competency Exercise will help increase awareness of cultural understanding.
