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Social Inequalities and Diversity

Students Name

Institution Name
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Introduction

Social and cultural diversity is the variability in ways of life among different individuals that

live together. There exist various biases that an individual can experience that include gender

orientation, religion, race, and age, among many others. Social and cultural diversity seeks to

explain the relational aspect among individuals based on their beliefs about other people. Society

consists of individuals from different backgrounds, which benefits society based on creativity

and a wider variety of perspectives. In the healthcare sector, cultural diversity is essential in

cultural proficiency and the ability to meet different patients' and clients' needs from various

backgrounds. In this paper, I aim to increase cultural awareness based on the diverse population

and reduce the burden of being a health and wellness provider.

Personal Reflection

As a mental and health professional, I often evaluate different individuals. Based on my

evaluation, I always have a bias for gender and body size. I prioritize male patients over female

patients and often criticize obese patients. This bias has been based on my preference for some

patients at the expense of others. Subtle discrimination is defined as the negative treatment of

individuals from minority groups. As a mental and health professional, I have experienced my

fair share of discrimination. First, due to my minority cultural background, I have often lagged in

workplace development. Other employees from other races and backgrounds have developed

faster due to quick developmental progress (Popoviciu & Tileagă, 2020). My cultural

background has made individuals in my workplace overlook my qualifications and experience as

a mental and health professional. I have had experiences with other colleagues from minority

cultural backgrounds. Different individuals from different cultural backgrounds have different
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ways of working. I came to understand the Indian culture from a mental health and wellness

professional who I worked with in the same department. He explains that he had preferences for

patients from his cultural background. He was often treated differently by professionals from

superior cultural backgrounds, and thus he has reciprocated the same attitude towards patients

from superior cultural backgrounds like the white race. I also have had the same experience since

male professionals have, at times, treated me differently because I was a woman. Thus, I have

had a preference for female patients over male patients. Additionally, I have always disliked

obese individuals, which has affected my work with obese patients as a mental health and

wellness professional (Lindsey et al., 2017).

The development of emotional intelligence can be separated into two competencies that

include social and personal. Personal competencies comprise self-management and awareness.

Culture influences the way people work; hence different people from different backgrounds have

different ways of working. Since I have had a preference for working with female mental health

and wellness professionals being self-aware has allowed me to recognize my emotions and their

effect on me. My experience earlier with male mental health and wellness professionals has

influenced the way I treat them. Personal competencies are abilities and traits that impact

individual results while working. Therefore, personal traits and abilities dictate the way an

individual will work with different people. I think of other people from different backgrounds

impacting how I behave around them and thus influencing beliefs and worldviews. Through

personal competencies, I have less preference for obese mental health and wellness

professionals, affecting how I work with them (Reach Out, n,d).

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Racism and Discrimination

A stereotype is regarded as a widely held image of a particular group. For instance, Asians

are good at math. Prejudice is defined as the feeling towards an individual based on their

membership in a group. Finally, discrimination is the unjust treatment of individuals on sex, race,

and age, among many other social categories. For instance, not employing an individual because

he or she is black is discrimination. A covert racist is an individual who discriminates in disguise

rather than being obvious (Stangor, 2016). A covert racist discriminates against individuals

passively. Racially biased decisions are often made in the workplace and are rationalized with

explanations that society is more willing to accept. An individual may discriminate against the

black race because they generally have a low education level than whites and often have higher

incarceration rates. Values often refer to specific life goals that people have on what is most

important to them, while perceptions involve becoming aware of something through senses.

Individuals from the same ethnic group often do not have the same life goals and awareness.

Thus, this aspect makes up for the difference in perceptions and values. Therefore, individuals

from the same ethnic group may hold the same ideology but often have different values and

perceptions (Bamberg, 2019).

Multicultural Competence

Cultural sensitivity is the aspect of being aware of cultural similarities and differences

among different groups. While providing professional services, I understood that different clients

hold similar or different cultural values, and therefore I have to address the difference and

similarities while offering my services. Different cultures hold different cultural values, which

are impacted by different modes of communication. At the same time, offering services to
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different people, I have to address their issues in different communication styles to address the

cultural similarities and differences. There are critical considerations in cultural diversity that

impact interaction. Trying to build a rapport with different individuals changes based on their

values and ideologies. Different cultures view mental illness differently, and thus I have to

address this difference while offering services. The best resource to use in understanding cultural

diversity is communication that assists in understanding different cultures. Through

communication, I can become more informed about other cultures. By communicating well with

female and obese clients, I can better understand their diversity (Smith et al., 2019).

Culture canvol be defined as customs and the social behavior of a particular society. Culture

shapes the way people work and the way they relate. Culture creates values for individuals hence

the ability to know what is right and wrong. Individuals who consider recovering the right choice

are often propelled by culture to get well. Based on the identity created by society, culture

creates a sense of self belonging and connectivity. Culture shapes the way people in a society

make decisions; hence wellbeing can be considered a decision that individuals can make. Since

culture creates values that influence decisions and shape relations, individuals can have an

improved ability to recover, a sense of belonging, connectivity, and wellbeing.

Cultural bias in counseling can lead to ethnic profiling, where a patient is prejudged based

on their cultural background before the session begins. Since it is a stereotype that black

individuals are less learned compared to whites. A cultural bias could be that counselors will

believe that they have to do more explaining to black individuals due to their inferior mental

capacity. I could apply my learning to become more culturally diverse and aware. This aspect

will assist me in gaining more insight into the values of different cultures. Therefore, I will know
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how to communicate with different patients and understand their perception of mental illness and

wellness (Gopalkrishnan, 2018).

Self-Care for Providers

Burnout is defined as the reaction to prolonged job stress. The different factors associated

with burnout include years of practice, workload, work duration, and duty times. All these

factors are associated with the amount of time spent while working (Olsen et al., 2010).

Compassion fatigue is a condition initiated by physical and emotional exhaustion. The factors

associated with compassion fatigue include unstable management, stress at home, and lack of

support. These factors are associated with the level of psychological impact other factors have on

a professional (Ramos‐Pichardo et al., 2020). A self-Care plan assists in controlling factors that

impact burnout and compassion fatigue. The first strategy to mitigate burnout is practicing self-

care, engage in outside hobbies, boost your resiliency, and cultivate healthy friendships outside

work. A self -care plan assists professionals in taking care of themselves as they care for other

people. Sometimes professionals care for others and wind up neglecting their own needs.

Boosting resiliency improves the ability of a professional to bounce back from any stressful

occurrence. Even though it is advised to have a strong relationship with co-workers, it is

recommended to have relationships outside work to create an outside environment for

professionals. Finally, engaging in hobbies creates a different environment for employees

(Yoder, 2015).

Burnout and comparison fatigue are considered barriers to effective work. The amount of

time spent by employees while working often affects their overall performance. A self-care plan

is essential in managing employee performance. Strategies that can promote self-care and
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wellbeing include: (1) Wellness providers need to maintain physical self-care; thus, it is

essential for wellness providers to develop a routine that will prevent either burnout or

comparison fatigue. Self-care also involves maintaining a healthy diet for wellness providers. It

is essential for wellness providers to keep in check of what they eat to maintain their well-being.

(2) Psychological self-care also involves activities that help mental health and wellness

providers to have a clear head while working. This enables them to engage intellectually with

professional challenges. Keeping a reflective journal is an effective way of engaging with the

mind and allowing mental health and wellness providers to reflect on their activities. (3)

Emotional self-care enables wellness providers to experience a full range of emotions. Mental

health and wellness providers are encouraged to develop friendships at work and outside work to

encourage supportive coexistence. (4) Spiritual self-care is the final form of self-care that

wellness providers can use. Engaging in other activities that enhance one’s spirit is essential.

Providers can take nature walks once in a while or join a yoga class to divert their attention and

mind outside work activities.

Conclusion

Cultural diversity is an essential aspect when it comes to professionalism. As a mental health

and wellness professional, I have to factor in cultural diversity because different clients come

from different cultural backgrounds, which affects the mode of services I offer to them.

Reducing discrimination, prejudice, and stereotypes allows equal opportunities for each

individual, and this makes up better management that lowers burnout and compassion fatigue.
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Reference

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