Cultural competence
U.S being a country of immigrants, addressing the needs of culturally diverse people has become the top priority of us health care system. Health care priorities include intervening chronic conditions like hypertension, Diabetes mellitus, chronic smoking. In order to effectively manage these prevalent conditions, it is imperative to understand a patient’s health knowledge, lifestyle, beliefs and behavior. Mere technical proficiency is no longer sufficient in today’s healthcare system. Thus communication skills that contemplate the cultural context of patients play a very crucial role.
Cultural competence refers to the set of skills necessary to understand and respond effectively to the cultural needs of each patient/client.
U.S being a country of immigrants, addressing the needs of culturally diverse people has become the top priority of us health care system. Health care priorities include intervening chronic conditions like hypertension, Diabetes mellitus, chronic smoking. In order to effectively manage these prevalent conditions, it is imperative to understand a patient’s health knowledge, lifestyle, beliefs and behavior. Mere technical proficiency is no longer sufficient in today’s healthcare system. Thus communication skills that contemplate the cultural context of patients play a very crucial role.
Cultural competence refers to the set of skills necessary to understand and respond effectively to the cultural needs of each patient/client.