Cultural Competence in Healthcare Quiz

Cultural Knowledge and Competence

• Cultural knowledge is the process of seeking and obtaining a sound educational base about culturally diverse groups.
• It involves familiarizing oneself with selected cultural characteristics, history, values, belief systems, and behaviors of members from other ethnic groups.

Hispanic/Latino Culture

• The Hispanic/Latino region covers over 40 countries and has a rich array of spiritual traditions, including African cultural influences.
• Eye contact is valued, and touching the shoulder or upper arm is a common greeting.
• May send money back home to support family members.

African American Culture

• Involved in religious institutions, often with discomfort and mistrust of the healthcare system.
• Fear of life-threatening or debilitating diseases, and perception that diagnostic procedures are an invasion of privacy.
• Acceptance of larger body sizes, and less guilt about overeating.

Sub-Saharan African Culture

• Diverse with over 450 languages and cultural traditions.
• Family is defined broadly, and greetings require shaking hands and asking about the individual's and their family's health.
• Family ties imply extensive monetary and other obligations.

Cross-Cultural Negotiation and Communication

• The BELIEF Instrument is a preclinical teaching tool that helps in understanding cultural differences in health beliefs and behaviors.
• Elements of cultural competence include awareness, knowledge, skills, encounters, and desires.

What is Culture?

• A learned set of shared interpretations about beliefs, values, and norms that affect the behavior of a relatively large group of people.
• Culture is dynamic and involves factors such as geography, age, socioeconomic status, religion, gender, education, language, politics, and sexual orientation.

Developing Cultural Awareness

• Requires self-examination of one's own bias towards other cultures and recognition of racism and other "isms" in healthcare delivery.
• Involves developing sensitivity and understanding of another ethnic group through communication, observation, and flexibility.

Specific Cultural Variations

Native American Culture

• Family pride and honor are important, and prefer to be treated by a medical practitioner of the same sex.
• Fasting is required during certain times, and left hands are used for toilet hygiene.

Eastern European Culture

• Religions in the region include Orthodox Christianity, Islam, and Judaism.
• Relatives provide moral and physical support to each other, and several generations may live together.

Muslim Culture

• May not eat or drink during the holy month of Ramadan, and may refuse medications during this time.
• Sick and elderly Muslims may be exempt from fasting during Ramadan.

Mental Illness and Culture

• Mental illness may be attributed to supernatural causes, such as evil spirits or possession.
• Folk remedies and spiritual measures may be used to prevent or cure mental illness.

Tips for Nurses

• Explore each patient's preferences regarding disclosure of clinical findings early in the clinical association.
• Be sensitive to cultural differences in communication and disclosure of clinical information.

Chinese Culture

• Older patients may be polite and nod, but this does not necessarily indicate agreement or understanding of medical facts.
• May avoid contact with healthcare providers as a sign of respect for authority.
• Traditional Chinese people believe in the concept of yin and yang, and mental illness may be attributed to an imbalance of these energies.