Cultural Competency In The Workplace
Cultural competency is having the ability to understand, without judgement, who you are interacting with. This includes, but is not limited to, the language someone speaks, their religion, and beliefs. With this information you then can approach whoever it may be in an appropriate manner depending on each situation you encounter. This concept is quite important in the world of health professions due to the constant interaction with patients. For someone that speaks another first language than you, they most likely will feel more comfortable speaking in their primary language and will be more willing to cooperate. Stated in a Harvard Business Review article, a study done in 2013 revealed that, “one in five Americans — more than 60 million people — speak a language other than English at home” (Duhart, O. 2017). It is very important that who you are working with has trust in you because they are sharing their personal information and coming to you for professional help. This information will be what allows you to provide help to the best of your ability. A way
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to build trust is by speaking your patient's first language so it comes more naturally to them to communicate exactly what they need to share with you. Miscommunication due to a language barrier can lead to mistakes in diagnosis and other issues. By bridging the gap with your patient in this way, you create a more comfortable and safe atmosphere.
By volunteering, you gain the opportunity to work with numerous people and expand your comprehension of how to interact with people of different cultures, religion, genders, age, and level of knowledge. The way one would interact with someone of an older age is a different approach than someone of a younger age. In the same manor, you would approach a situation differently depending on the gender identity of an individual. Bruce Johansen addresses the common fear many feel and the repercussions, “Diagnosis of serious medical problems may be delayed, increasing the risk of disability or severe illness, and contributing to significant physical and mental health disparities among LGBTQ people” (Johansen, B. 2017). By volunteering you get hands on experiences with these multiple situations and can learn firsthand how to interact with different people. Experience is the best way to figure out how to treat patients and provide them with a safe environment that will allow the best outcome for all.
It takes practice and lots of experience it become good at interacting with different people.
By volunteering you gain vast amounts of hours doing so and gaining knowledge of the proper ways to work with patients. You can learn how to speak another language that you company encounter while volunteering which will make you better at interacting with people that do not have the same primary language as you.
To find the best opportunities for myself, I am planning to talk with peers and mentors that have volunteered before to find out what they have done in their past. I believe that any hands-on activity would be the most helpful form of volunteering for me personally. It forces you to practice real life situations under the guidance of others. I believe this to be helpful because there will come a time that you must do so without a watching eye to help you through interactions with multiple different
personals.
to build trust is by speaking your patient's first language so it comes more naturally to them to communicate exactly what they need to share with you. Miscommunication due to a language barrier can lead to mistakes in diagnosis and other issues. By bridging the gap with your patient in this way, you create a more comfortable and safe atmosphere.
By volunteering, you gain the opportunity to work with numerous people and expand your comprehension of how to interact with people of different cultures, religion, genders, age, and level of knowledge. The way one would interact with someone of an older age is a different approach than someone of a younger age. In the same manor, you would approach a situation differently depending on the gender identity of an individual. Bruce Johansen addresses the common fear many feel and the repercussions, “Diagnosis of serious medical problems may be delayed, increasing the risk of disability or severe illness, and contributing to significant physical and mental health disparities among LGBTQ people” (Johansen, B. 2017). By volunteering you get hands on experiences with these multiple situations and can learn firsthand how to interact with different people. Experience is the best way to figure out how to treat patients and provide them with a safe environment that will allow the best outcome for all.
It takes practice and lots of experience it become good at interacting with different people.
By volunteering you gain vast amounts of hours doing so and gaining knowledge of the proper ways to work with patients. You can learn how to speak another language that you company encounter while volunteering which will make you better at interacting with people that do not have the same primary language as you.
To find the best opportunities for myself, I am planning to talk with peers and mentors that have volunteered before to find out what they have done in their past. I believe that any hands-on activity would be the most helpful form of volunteering for me personally. It forces you to practice real life situations under the guidance of others. I believe this to be helpful because there will come a time that you must do so without a watching eye to help you through interactions with multiple different
personals.