Health Communication Strategies for Culturally Competent Care

Introduction

In order to deliver quality care to patients, care providers must be cognizant of the various strategies and methods that can be used to achieve care objectives. Researching, developing, and utilizing effective communication tools and strategies is one way that nurses can better increase the quality of care they provide to patients. This paper will: (1) discuss the necessity of applying research findings to implement effective health communication strategies; (2) describe patient-centered communication practices that demonstrate cultural competency; (3) analyze the consequences and results of low health literacy and explain how effective communication can improve health outcomes; and (4) explain the need for relevant, accurate, accessible, and understandable health information communicated to and from intended audiences to advance the health of the community.

Applying Research Findings to Implement Effective Health Communication

Applying research findings to implement effective health communication strategies is part of what it means to engage in evidence-based practice. As Kreps (2012) points out, many care providers' communication methods are guided more by "good intentions, precedent, and expedience than by strong evidence" (p. 5). The problem, of course, is that good intentions are no replacement for solid, evidence-based research. To achieve the most desirable health communication objectives, care providers should base their communication methods on the evidence that researchers show works best. For example, nurses are instrumental in helping to guide the decision-making processes of patients — but if they are not communicating effectively with patients, the outcomes are likely to be less than satisfactory. Nurses have been found to lack the necessary cultural competency needed to communicate with diverse populations in many cases (Tsoh et al., 2016), which causes them to fail in teaching health literacy or in educating patients in self-care. Effective health communication strategies exist to help nurses overcome obstacles of this nature, but if care providers are not engaging with the research and learning these strategies, they will not be providing the type of quality care that patients deserve.

To know what research is current or offers the best evidence-based practice approaches for enhancing communication with patients, nurses must engage in continuous education. Without continuous education as a staple of their nursing careers, nurses cannot develop themselves both personally and professionally to meet the ever-evolving challenges of the profession. For instance, as the world becomes increasingly globalized, the diversity of the patient population continually shifts and changes. The efficient and effective nurse will have multiple comprehensive communication strategies to draw upon to address these challenges — but only if the nurse engages in continuous education and stays abreast of what researchers are doing in the field. Some such communication strategies that nurses will want to focus on include patient-centered communication practices that demonstrate cultural competency, which are discussed in the following section.

Patient-Centered Communication Practices That Demonstrate Cultural Competency

As Campinha-Bacote (2011) notes, the most important aspect of patient-centered communication and the demonstration of cultural competence is the need to see the patient as wholly unique. Patients are like snowflakes in that no two are the same — and for that reason nurses should not treat them all alike. Every patient comes from a different background and has his or her own understanding of what health means to them. The nurse who is culturally competent will be able to adjust the care and communication approach based on the perceived culture and values of the patient. By interacting with the patient during an initial introduction, the nurse who has researched, learned, and developed cultural competence will know what signs to look for, what questions to ask, and how to present oneself so as not to give offense. Being sensitive to the patient's perspective, experiences, beliefs, attitudes, and expectations about health, life, body, and mind can help the nurse provide quality care and communicate in the most effective manner (Campinha-Bacote, 2011). A culturally competent nurse can better assist the patient in the decision-making process than a nurse who has developed no cultural competence. The latter will have no effective strategy to use when the time comes to educate a patient of a different ethnicity or cultural background, or to assist such a patient in making effective health choices.

The key to using patient-centered care strategies that demonstrate cultural competence is to be mindful of individual biases, make efforts to address those biases, and engage in cultural tailoring so that diverse patients feel comfortable with their care providers. Patient-centered communication practices informed by cultural competence could include augmenting communication strategies to fit the needs of the individual patient, such as providing literature materials in a language that is easier for the patient to understand (Saha, Beach, & Cooper, 2008). For instance, if the patient is Hispanic, providing literature materials in Spanish would facilitate communication and demonstrate cultural competence. Similarly, learning Spanish to enhance one's communication skills would be another example. Tailoring one's explanation of a health issue to suit the patient's religious beliefs would be yet another example. Understanding the cultural expectations of care among Muslims, various Christian denominations, Hindus, Jews, or other religious groups is one way to implement patient-centered care strategies that demonstrate cultural competence (Saha et al., 2008). The goal in any case is to boost the patient's health literacy so that the patient can be fully informed and capable of making the best health choices for him or herself.

Conclusion

Keeping in mind the various methods of communication in today's world is a necessary function of today's nurses. They must be culturally competent. They must use research and evidence-based practices to enhance their communication methods. And they must help promote the health literacy of individuals and communities by using effective communication strategies.