Why Is Cultural Competence in Healthcare So Important?

While we can all agree that diversity is ultimately a good thing for society, it also presents unique challenges -- particularly for today’s healthcare providers. One way to transform these challenges into opportunities across everything from advancing research to enhancing patient care? Embrace cultural competence. Let’s take a closer look at this increasingly important topic, along with a few techniques aimed at helping students become more culturally competent.

What is Cultural Competence?

According to a report from researchers at Harvard and Cornell, cultural competence can be defined as “the ability of providers and organizations to effectively deliver health care services that meet the social, cultural, and linguistic needs of patients.”

The National Center for Cultural Competence (NCCC) at Georgetown University highlights the following as key elements found in culturally competent environments:

● Having defined values and principles working alongside behaviors, attitudes and policies all working toward effective cross-cultural interactions.

● The capacity to value diversity, manage differences, acquire and disseminate cultural knowledge, adapt to diversity within dynamic cultural context, and utilize self-assessments.

● Integrate and institutionalize all of the factors above into organizational policy-making and practices.

Obviously, this is a tall order -- especially in our complex and changing world. But it is also a vital one.

Why Does Cultural Competence Matter?

From age, gender, race and ethnicity to social class, language, spiritual beliefs, and mental and physical abilities, the breadth and depth of differences found in the people populating our single planet are many.

While failure to acknowledge and address these differences can divide us, cultural competence plays the opposite role. It closes the gap, enables better communications, and ultimately unites people in spite of -- and sometimes because of -- their differences.

While cultural competency may seem like a nicety, diversity awareness can actually be lifesaving in a healthcare setting. Consider an example from the National Student Nurses’ Association in which a nurse caring for a diabetic patient disregards a patient’s spiritually-informed dietary restrictions. If the patient doesn’t eat the food, it can trigger a chain reaction leading to delayed eating and impaired insulin administration. The ultimate result? Jeopardized patient safety.

And that’s just one example. From language barriers to low literacy to differing attitudes about medicine and treatment, cultural disparities can be more than a mere inconvenience. And even in situations which aren’t life-threatening, cultural competence skills are also essential as a matter of simple respect. Diversity training, meanwhile, has the power to simultaneously safeguard both healthcare professionals and patients from avoidable adverse outcomes.

Improving Your Cultural Competence Skills

Students planning on entering healthcare professions can take steps to hone their cultural competence skills. One simple way to broaden your perspective while in school? Embrace all opportunities for learning. Certain schools and programs may have curricula elements focused on supporting the development of multicultural skills. Additionally, a number of other classes -- from language to history -- promote cultural understanding.

Cultural competency skills can also be developed in informal student settings, as well. International travel, study abroad opportunities, and overseas internships further offer students the guidance and experience they need to develop key multicultural skills and competencies in their everyday lives.

In a broader context, experts propose a simple rule of thumb for practicing cultural competence as a matter of course: acknowledge people as individuals. While we are all products of our background and cultures, we’re also all individuals with particular wants and needs. Putting the individual first in all of your interactions is a critical step to avoiding stereotypes and other cultural competence pitfalls.

Another tip? Don’t be afraid to ask questions. Ultimately, there’s no way to know another person’s mind or heart. Asking questions gives you direct insight into what another person is thinking or feeling in order to foster the most positive, mutually beneficial interactions.

One last thing to keep in mind on the topic of cultural competence? It’s a work in progress, not a final destination. As you progress through school, your career and your personal life, you’ll encounter near-endless chances to explore different perspectives, accept and embrace difference, and become more culturally competent. In leveraging each of these opportunities into a learning experience, you’ll not only become a better healthcare professional, but you’ll also gain something equally as important: a richer, more vibrant view of the world and your place in it.