Cultural Competency - Background
What is Cultural Competency?
Cultural competency requires effectively providing services to people of all cultures, races, ethnic backgrounds and religions in a manner that respects the worth of the individual and preserves their dignity.
Cultural competency is a developmental process that evolves over an extended period. Both individuals and organizations are at various levels of awareness, knowledge and skill on the cultural competence continuum.
Affects of Providing Culturally Competent Health Care
- makes more effective use of time with patients
- increases disclosure of patient information
- helps with negotiating differences
- increases patient compliance in treatment protocols
- positively affects clinical outcomes
- improves communication with patients
- decreases stress
- builds trust in a relationship
- increases patient and provider satisfaction
- meets increasingly stringent government regulations and medical accreditation requirements
Why Cultural Competency in Health Care is Important
It has long been acknowledged that a patient's health beliefs and communication style play critical roles in medical care. The issues of cross-cultural communication and variations in health beliefs not only impact patient satisfaction, but can also impact clinical outcomes. Demographics are changing rapidly throughout the nation, and the service areas of the UMHS are no different. As a leader in healthcare, the UMHS must remain at the cutting-edge of developments in culturally competent medicine.
