¶ … Cultural Competence Self-Assessment reveals several core areas in which health care personnel can demonstrate cultural literacy. One of those areas is promoting an inclusive environment. Promoting inclusivity can be achieved by displaying literature and posters that depict diverse people. Another major area of cultural competence is communication and language. Reducing stereotypes among the entire workforce as well as in the overall office environment is essential for cultural competency. Recognizing different approaches to health, healing and family is also a component of cultural literacy. Finally, the Cultural Competence Self-Assessment asks whether we pay attention to recent literature and best practices. After taking the test, I recognize my strengths as well as areas that need improvement.
For example, I have not filled the waiting room with periodicals that might appeal to all clients. We do not always have control over the videos and brochures that are used, but I need to make a more concerted effort to ask for more culturally inclusive office materials. I believe that most of our office correspondences are written in a form of English that is easily understandable. We are more than welcome to assist any client who has trouble understanding anything. However, we do not offer to meet with clients whose first language is not English to decipher communications that they might not understand. Making this effort goes a long way toward promoting client health and well being.
We do have bilingual staff but Spanish is the only language besides English that is well-represented. It would be more helpful to hire people who have some command of other languages that our clients might speak. One of the areas I believe we do well in is sensitivity to diverse views of family and health. We allow extended members of the family to visit and consult with them too. I understand that people from different cultures grieve differently, too. Finally, I would be better off reading peer-reviewed journal articles as to the most current best practices that take cultural literacy into account. Making a health care environment culturally sensitive is of the utmost importance to public health.
