Interdisciplinary Cultural Competence

What changes in attitudes, knowledge, and skills does diversity/cross-cultural training bring about? 

Is there a common definition of cultural competence that is useful in broad range of fields? 

Reflect on progress toward your learning outcomes identified in post #3.

In response to the first question, the one thing that changes with diversity/cross-cultural training  is a more positive attitude towards all types of people.  The reason why I think this is because people can be negative and stand offish to things that they do not know or understand.  In fact, some people don't want to understand some things for fear that they might change their ways.  When I was working in Mississippi I worked with a white man in one of the nursing homes.  He was a very nice man to work with, but he would always use the "N" word when talking about blacks and was kind of mean to the black people that worked there.  One night we went out for a couple drinks after work and he told me that he liked a few black people that we worked with, but if he treated them nice his family would disown him for liking black people.  The hate and negativity surrounds communities every day because of prejudice and racism.  It's just to bad that he was scared of what his parents would think of him just for being nice to a person with different colored skin.

President Obama did a very good job trying to put across a positive message to all people and trying to be equal with healthcare.  A lot of people didn't agree with him, but he just wanted to be fair and equitable to all.  Obama being the first black president brought positive change to this country that we've never seen before.  He brought hope to the black people and other minorities that they could aspire to be something more.  Cultural competence, the ability to interact effectively with people of different cultures, helps to ensure the needs of all community members are addressed. 1 Cross-cultural training informs people of what they don't know and allows them to be educated about different ethnic groups.  The knowledge is what gives the people the power to be better towards people.  Why is it that you might not like someone because they had different views than you, but when you find out they have a son and daughter just like you, then you start to like them more.  You feel this way because you start to relate to a person that has similar interests like you.  The more knowledge that you have, the more you use it to get more knowledge so that you can make a better assumption about someone or something.  This is what the training does.  It gives you the power to know a lot of cultures and to understand why they believe in what they believe, and why it means so much to them.  

The skills that change due to the cross-cultural training is how to deal with non-English speaking people for example.  How using hand gestures might not be the most appropriate way to communicate because what is acceptable in the United States may be offensive in other cultures or countries.  Improving your skills in dealing with interpreters and patients.  Figuring out how to the ask the right questions and learning how to better communicate with your patients can be enhanced for positive outcomes with this training.

The definition of cultural competence is the ability to communicate effectively and appropriately with people of other cultures.  This is a very broad statement that could be used across a larger range of fields.  It can be defined in healthcare as the ability of providers and organizations to effectively deliver health care services that meet the social, cultural, and linguistic needs of patients. 1 This is very similar to the first definition, but it is refined to fit the healthcare field.  The first definition serves as a precursor to the true definition of cultural competence relating to any field of work.  

Next, I would like to reflect on the three learning outcomes that I talked about in the third post.  The first learning outcome dealt with being more culturally aware.  I have been trying to be more open to people's beliefs or cultures in my own neighborhood, places we dine and at the workplace.  I have been trying to read more about Hmong populations since we are experiencing more Hmong patients in MRI.  I would like to teach my technologists about their culture and beliefs to be able help them work with the patients and creative a positive outcome.

The next learning outcome that I am working on was putting my own personal biases aside to provide better healthcare.  I already did a good job of this in my eyes, but I wanted to make sure that I was continuing to give it my all.  I talked about the patients with disabilities, mentally challenged or non-English speaking that needed more time with the technologists to learn more about the exam or to fill out the screening form.  The scheduling templates were extended to accommodate this and so far it has been working fine.  I keep seeing areas where we could do some tweaking and I have my technologists meeting to talk about how we can do better.

The third learning outcome that I can report about is to communicate more effectively with non-verbal or non-English speaking patients.   When dealing with these patients I am trying to talk slower (not louder) so that they can read my lips if need be.  I try to be more patient for their responses as well.  So far I have worked with about four patients and it will take me awhile to get a pattern down, but I am critiquing myself in order to get better.  I have the MRI staff working on this also.

1) Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.  Cultural Competence.  https://www.samhsa.gov/capt/applying-strategic-prevention/cultural-competence.  Accessed June 29th, 2018