Provide response to the discussion posts below:
1.What is cultural competence in health care? Discuss the difference among the terms cultural awareness, cultural sensitivity, cultural competence and cultural humility.
Cultural competence is essential in healthcare and must be embraced by clinicians. As Dreachslin, Gilbert, and Malone (2013) mentioned, cultural competence for healthcare professionals should consist of understanding the individuals' cultural beliefs, how they interact with others, and their environment, including social, material, and spiritual aspects. The authors further mention how individuals' personal beliefs contribute to their perspective of disease, health, and potential treatment (Dreachslin et al., 2013). Cultural competence allows healthcare professionals to understand the factors influencing the person to make certain decisions or whether they will accept medical treatment.
In terms of cultural awareness, it focuses on an individual recognizing the differences and similarities among various cultures and understanding that culture is critical to how those individuals interact and behave (Dreachslin et al., 2013). Cultural sensitivity focuses on an individual recognizing the cultural needs of a person and how their culture influences their decisions. Cultural humility is an ongoing process that allows individuals to reflect on their personal biases and assumptions about another culture (Dreachslin et al., 2013). I believe that recognizing these concepts is important in my practice to become more culturally competent.
Which of these concepts (in the former question) do you aspire to in your work within the health system?
References
Dreachslin, J. L., Gilbert, M. J., & Malone, B. (2013). Diversity and cultural competence in health care: A systems approach (1st ed.). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
