DIVERSITY AND CULTURAL COMPETENCY
IN HEALTH CARE SETTINGS
Babatunde Thaddaeus Bello
0282394
School of Nursing, Assiniboine Community College
COMM - 0037: Health Relations & Communications
Terri Schell
October 05, 2023
2
INTRODUCTION
Addressing costly healthcare disparities and eradicating or reducing it require an
understanding of some factors and how they affect patients and providers because providers see
the world differently from the way patients see it based on their respective cultures. Culture as it
were, has its own values and beliefs that affect how patients perceive everything around them,
including their health, and it should be noted that patients’ compliance and understanding are
also influenced by socioeconomic, environment and social factors.
This essay argues that patients don't leave their beliefs at the door when they visit their
providers and so highlights the importance of cultural competence in healthcare since patients'
beliefs and behaviors are influenced by their cultural backgrounds, and providers must be
mindful of these facts to effectively provide medical services since it involves respecting and
understanding cultural differences, reducing communication gaps and frustration, and motivating
patients to become equal partners within their care team. This approach helps achieve goals
without judgment and reduces healthcare disparities, ultimately benefiting both patients and
healthcare providers.
3
Amongst the benefits of having health care providers trained in cultural competency is
that it helps to Identify features of cultural competence in healthcare settings, show a stronger
awareness of the significance of culture in healthcare, identify impediments to cultural
understanding among providers, staff, and clients. Also, recognize and efficiently respond to a
variety of verbal and nonverbal cues, examine and address disparities in attitudes, beliefs, and
health-related behaviours among various populations, show dedication to providing culturally
sensitive services, improve collaboration with a varied team of medical professionals which
automatically improves communication.
Safety of patients is more assured if there is clear communication between healthcare
providers and patients as it would help to collect accurate medical information as this further
goes to encourage active dialogues in which patients and providers can ask questions, correct
misunderstandings, and build trust because it helps patients and health care providers view health
and illness from the same perspective and especially those that provide cultural and appropriate
linguistical services that would have the potential to reduce racial and ethnic disparities as
anything less would lead to insensitivity and cultural differences. The quality of health care can
be compromised and that is when non-verbal communications techniques such as facial
expressions, gestures, tone of voice, body language, pictures, personal space, gaze, touch,
appearance and artifacts can come into play when verbal method isn’t achieving as much as
desired. (Smith at el., 2023).
It is necessary for health care providers to ensure their patients are not frustrated by their
actions because sometimes, it is difficult to convince some patients on the cause of their needed
care. “For example, some patients believe in fatalism, the devil, or a demon as the cause of their
4
condition. They may not accept any diagnosis and may even believe they cannot change their
situation. Instead, they can only accept circumstances as they unfold.” (Tukuitonga, 2018, p. 6).
In order to avoid any negative impact or reduce delays in care delivery and duplicative
evaluation, there would be the need to put up a well-integrated and coordinated care that is
focused on the needs of the care of the client and family which is important because patients’
participation in all parts of their care gives them the confidence to speak up and participate in
decision-making and would prevent care refusal because every client or patient has the right of
refusal for care. (Pirotte & Benson, 2023)
When it comes to cultural disrespect or discrimination, it is crucial for the workplace to
have a set of policies and standards spelt out regarding what constitutes appropriate behaviour
and what doesn't, as well as the repercussions for healthcare professionals who choose to flout
these policies. These policies may include reduction in language barrier that can be achieved
through engaging diverse healthcare professionals from different backgrounds and providing
basic language training to ease the communication gap and also including, but not limited to
observation of religious holidays, allowing cultural décor and signage to personalize rooms, use
of a communication board to facilitate staff-client communication, Offering greater flexibility in
visiting hours and flexibility in scheduling, bathing and mealtimes, employing a patient advocate
from their community to act as a liaison in bringing health care services to the client, as a facility
or organization, offer cultural sensitivity training on a regular basis and also trying to provide
“lunch ‘n’ Learn” opportunities for staff while also inviting speakers from diverse communities
to speak about their culture and about best practices for working with a diverse group of people.
These reasons and more can help to reduce health disparities and will make it easier for patients
to obtain high-quality medical treatment that is sensitive and responsive to the requirements of
5
patients from all backgrounds when designed and put into practice as a framework while cultural
respect will enable the systems, agencies, and professional organizations to work well to
comprehend the needs of populations gaining access to healthcare and health information.
(Cultural Respect, 2021)
So, better healthcare offerings come with greater patients’ satisfaction, respect and
valuing of cultural differences through examining patients’ own cultural attitudes and making the
appropriate adaptions to patient care as understanding your patient will help you understand their
Healthcare needs thereby making cultural competency to promote compliance, eradicate health
disparities, improve health outcomes and encourage patients to become your partners and their
health, hence, pursuing health equity which means pursuing the elimination of such health
disparities and inequalities. (Annu. Rev. Public Health, 2006)
However, you must be tolerant and not make judgements even if you don’t agree with the
client’s beliefs and practices. And in order to achieve this and accept others, you need to
understand how your own culture influences you by asking yourself if you judge people by your
own cultural standard, have prejudices or biases, assume that if something works for you, it must
work for others as well, think that there are “right” and “wrong” ways of doing things, also
whether you are being critical of another person’s lifestyle because it is different from yours, and
do you ever avoid trying new things or draw conclusions too quickly and then do you respect
people as individuals, if you find yourself angry or revolted when you see people who dress in a
way that identifies their affiliation with a specific religion? You must learn about other cultures
from them in order to accept people from them. Talk to them and pay close attention to what
they have to say. Find out as much as you can about their ideas, principles, and worldview.
6
Respect them and show an interest in their traditions, dietary preferences, and attire. Your
customers will feel respected and cherished. (Sorrentino, Mosby’s Canadian Textbook for the
Support Worker, 2016)
7
CONCLUSION
Healthcare providers trained in cultural competency improve patient care by improving
communication, reducing racial and ethnic disparities, and overcoming language barriers. It also
promotes shared health perspectives and encourages active dialogue. Effective care, patient
participation, and treatment refusal rights are crucial for patient satisfaction and healthcare
disparities. Clear policies and standards, including language barriers reduction, are essential to
address cultural disrespect and discrimination.
“Life is too short to be wasted while health is too risky to be ignored on things that can be
resolved amicably and respectfully”
8
REFERENCES
Assiniboine Community College. Comprehensive Health Care Aide Module. Unit 2, Human
Relations and Communications
Benjamin D. P & Scarlet B. (2023, July 24). Refusal of Care. StatPearls - NCBI Bookshelf.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK560886/
Braveman P. Health disparities and health equity: concepts and measurement. Annu Rev Public
Health. 2006;27:167-94. doi: 10.1146/annurev.publhealth.27.021405.102103. PMID:
16533114.
Cultural Respect. (2021, July 7). National Institutes of Health (NIH).
https://www.nih.gov/institutes-nih/nih-office-director/office-communications-publicliaison/clear-communication/cultural-respect
Smith, M. (2023, August 14). Nonverbal Communication and Body Language. HelpGuide.org.
https://www.helpguide.org/articles/relationships-communication/nonverbalcommunication.htm
Sorrentino, S. A. Mosby’s Canadian Textbook for the Support Worker & Revised Workbook
Package (4th Ed.) (2016), Elsevier Mosby, Toronto. ISBN: 9780323655606)
Tukuitonga C. Impact of Culture on Health. PacHealth Dialog 2018; 21(1):5-7. DOI:
10.26635/phd.2018.901