Globalization, increasing diversity, and the pace of international migration pose new challenges for health workers in caring for patients with different backgrounds. As a result, understanding the concept of cultural competence and its application in practice has become an essential requirement for the work of health providers. While there is no clear definition of cultural competence, its application is vital in medical practice and can contribute to patients’ safety and trust in medical personnel.
Cultural competence is based on studying its components – culture and competence. Culture defines values, patterns of behavior, and human beliefs, and competence implies working in different conditions to achieve a particular result (Sharifi et al., 2019). The main attributes of cultural competence are cultural awareness, knowledge, sensitivity, skill, proficiency, and dynamicity (Hosseini et al., 2021; Sharifi et al., 2019). The concept emerged at the turn of the 1980s-90s and has been evolving ever since (Sharifi et al., 2019). Researchers identify various concept’s antecedents that echo its attributes: cultural knowledge, sensitivity, openness, diversity, encounter, and other aspects (Henderson et al., 2018; Sharifi et al., 2019). In practice, the concept is often applied in considering the patient’s culture, for example, respecting rituals and creating an environment that will help recovery.
Researchers do not yet have a consensus in defining cultural competence and consider it from various points of view. Henderson et al. (2018), Hosseini et al. (2021), and Sharifi et al. (2019) note that the concept and its implementation into practice are not clear. Depending on the perspective, cultural competence can be considered as the ability of health providers to meet the cultural needs of patients or the skills of medical personnel to understand and embrace sociocultural factors. Often, definitions combine the need for knowledge, skills, sensitivity, understanding, and awareness (Henderson et al., 2018). However, the fuzziness of the concept may hinder its implementation into practice and successful use in care for patients. Thus, cultural competence is an essential requirement for the work of medical personnel but still requires a clear definition.
References
Henderson, S., Horne, M., Hills, R., & Kendall, E. (2018). Cultural competence in healthcare in the community: A concept analysis.Health & Social Care in the Community, 26(4), 590-603. Web.
Hosseini, F. A., Torabizadeh, C., Bagherian, S., & Thomson, B. (2021). Cultural awareness in nursing: Concept analysis using Rodgers’ evolutionary approach.Journal of Research Development in Nursing and Midwifery, 18(1), 1-7. Web.
Sharifi, N., Adib-Hajbaghery, M., & Najafi, M. (2019). Cultural competence in nursing: A concept analysis.International Journal of Nursing Studies, 99, 103386. Web.