Cultural Competence, Essay Example

All aspects of health care delivery ranging from the emergency room, inpatient facilities, outpatient clinic, hospices, mental institutions, nursing homes, to rehab centers, require ethical decision making by health care professionals in their daily interactions with patients. The patients they interact with come from diverse cultural backgrounds. This makes it necessary to factor in culturally competent practices or ethics in dealing with the patients. In the United States, there is an increase in cultural diversity and health care providers and systems need a mechanism of responding to varied perspectives, behaviors, as well as values of patients concerning well-being and health.

There are immigrant groups, which form minorities, and failure to manage and understand cultural and social differences may pose major health consequences for them in particular. Cultural competence in ethical decision making regarding health care provision, is a strategy aimed at reducing disparities in quality of and access to health care. In definition, it describes ability of health care systems to provide care to patients with different behaviors, beliefs, and values. In some cases, this may include tailor made delivery to meet a specific patient’s linguistic, cultural, and social needs. Incorporation of cultural competence to health care in ethical decision-making calls for diversity in the leadership and workforce as well. The healthcare professionals forming decision-making bodies and ethics committees should be mixed racially and ethnically to eliminate disparities in coming up with best practices. Cultural competence in ethical decision making in health care ensures improved and unbiased quality of health services to all patients. The curriculum of medical schools is also responsible for enhancing the connectivity between cultural competence and ethical decision making in health care delivery. When this is done, the health care providers will be more competent in their decision-making.

References

Google Books. (2014). Cultural competency in health care providers’ ethical decision-making and moral reasoning: implications for reducing racial and ethnic health disparities for diverse populations. [online] Retrieved from: http://books.google.com/books?id=zNgWTy9Lo8QC&pg=PA110&lpg=PA110&dq=cultural+competence+and+ethical+decisions+in+care+delivery&source=bl&ots=O3-vSbFRJ2&sig=PCNpyL4qmyOMA7AstyAITN3gjNs&hl=en&sa=X&ei=yFPzUuzDBuKV7Abor4DABA&ved=0CIQBEOgBMAk [Accessed: 6 Feb 2014].

Unknown. (2014). [online] Retrieved from: http://www.commonwealthfund.org/usr_doc/betancourt_culturalcompetence_576.pdf [Accessed: 6 Feb 2014].

Unknown. (2014). [online] Retrieved from: http://www.hispanichealth.arizona.edu/cultural%20and%20ethical%20issues%20working%20w%20diverse%20patients%20culturagram%20%282%29.pdf [Accessed: 6 Feb 2014].