OCCURRENCE OF CULTURAL COMPETENCE 1

Occurrence of Cultural Competence

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Occurrence of Cultural Competence

Cultural competence is an individual’s understanding and appreciation of other

people’s cultures. It is an individual’s willingness to learn and understand different cultures.

According to the CDC (2021), cultural competence is a set of congruent attitudes, behaviors,

and policies associated with an agency, system, and among professionals enabling them to

work effectively under culturally diverse situations. In healthcare, cultural competence

extends from understanding a patient’s cultural orientation to incorporating key cultural

factors in a care process to achieve the goals of culturally competent care. Cultural

competence occurs throughout one’s interaction with people from varying cultures, during

which the individuals develop an understanding, accommodation, and appreciation of these

cultural beliefs and practices. It is also possible for healthcare professionals to learn about

other cultures through literature to understand and identify cultural differences.

The Purnell model of cultural competence enables healthcare providers to conduct

culture assessment by focusing on 12 key domains of culture. According to Purnell and Fenkl

(2019), these domains include spirituality, healthcare professionals and practice, high-risk

behaviors, death rituals, family roles, biocultural ecology, heritage, work issues, pregnancy,

communication, and nutrition. Most immigrants are from different cultures from of natives in

the US. The Purnell model provides a roadmap for exploring the different aspects of a

culture. Developing a questionnaire with key questions under each domain may help a

healthcare professional explore the various aspects of an immigrant’s culture. The model can

be used to understand a patient’s cultural orientation, values, and beliefs that reflect the

culture of the immigrant group the individual comes from. With such an understanding,

healthcare providers can focus care on addressing or accommodating most of these issues to

meet the population’s specific needs.

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References

Center for Disease Control and Prevention (2021). Cultural competence in health and human

services. https://npin.cdc.gov/pages/cultural-competence#what

Purnell, L. D., & Fenkl, E. A. (2019). The Purnell model for cultural competence. In

Handbook for Culturally Competent Care (pp. 7-18). Springer, Cham.