Culturally Competent Care

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CULTURALLY COMPETENT CARE 2

Culturally Competent Care

Healthcare providers have a responsibility to provide quality, evidence-based care that

needs the specific healthcare needs of their patients. Cultural issues are important to address

and this include language, family, cultural differences, and communication. Handtke et al.

(2019) indicate that it is important to recognize cultural differences between patient groups

and between patients and their providers as these differences affect the quality and uptake of

healthcare services. Providing culturally competent care is founded on effective cultural

assessment to identify cultural needs and implement care pans that address these issues.

An example of a patient from another culture is a Hispanic patient from Spain whose

main language of communication is Spanish. As evidenced by Moreira et al. (2018),

Hispanics are heterogeneous with varying languages and Spanish is the main language even

though not all can speak it fluently. The study also indicated that a majority do are not fluent

in English which may affect information sharing. The best approach to enhancing

communication between the provider and this specific patient is through the inclusion of a

Spanish translator. With the patient demonstrating better Spanish communication, having a

translator would be very effective in ensuring that this cultural barrier is addressed and care is

delivered. Equally, having a translator from this specific culture is important as this will

minimize other challenges associated with this culture which may have adverse effects on

communication outcomes.
CULTURALLY COMPETENT CARE 3

References

Handtke, O., Schilgen, B., & Mösko, M. (2019). Culturally competent healthcare–A scoping

review of strategies implemented in healthcare organizations and a model of

culturally competent healthcare provision. PloS one, 14(7), e0219971.

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0219971

Moreira, T., Hernandez, D. C., Scott, C. W., Murillo, R., Vaughan, E. M., & Johnston,

C. A. (2018). Susto, coraje, y fatalismo: cultural-bound beliefs and the treatment of

diabetes among socioeconomically disadvantaged Hispanics. American journal of

lifestyle medicine, 12(1), 30-33. https://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1559827617736506