Cultural Safety In Canada

Canada is a highly stratified country that not only has to deal with the challenges of different socioeconomic strata, but also the wide cultural diversity it holds. In the 21st century Canada is known as a cultural mosaic rather than a cultural melting pot like the United States. Canada welcomes all cultures in to our society; however, what exactly is a culture? A culture is the customs, arts, social institutions, and achievements of a particular nation, people or other social groups. In Canada this can be seen in the diverse ethnic groups, our religious communities and also our individual sub cultures (alternative lifestyles). With that, it's very important that health care professionals are careful not to be cultural blind, as this makes …show more content…
One must understand that different cultures teach its members different ways to interact and to behave, which may be different from our own. This can also include language barriers, verbal interactions and non verbal communication. Once you’re aware of the different backgrounds you may run in to in your position, you can use the constructivist definition of culture to help define cultural safety. One will need to provide culturally sensitive care by being able to gather knowledge about these new cultures and using it to provide safe care, as to allow the patient to feel a part of their care and not humiliated or alienated. The patient is the only one who can judge if they feel culturally safe or not. Over the next few sections will go in to more detail about culture in action in Saskatchewan, How we can improve and how providing cultural safe care is vital in Saskatchewan and is Saskatchewan doing enough for our growing immigration trend? With the help of our interviewees, a Registered Nurse from Saskatoon, and, a senior public health nurse in Rural …show more content…
In Canada, we are working towards promoting equal respect between genders. However, with our growing cultural diversity, it is brining people to our country who have Cultural beliefs that dictate whom may be present in some situations.” For observant Muslim women, covering up the body is important when they are in the company of non-mahram males, those not related by blood or marriage”. (Nytimes.com) In specific situation a Muslim women may request all female doctors to be present in her care. Moreover, this can bring on struggles for health centres, as they may not always be able to provider a full team of female staff for the patient. Always inform your patient, and ask them ‘what you can do to make sure they are comfortable’, it may be as simple as holding off the appointment procedure if able or making sure the patient is properly covered, with cloths, blankets or some head covering like a hijab. While the health centre may not always be able to meet their request in , they should always be respectful and discus what can be done to come as close to meeting the patients needs. Gender restrictions in health care are not an unknown issue, in recent studies they have found that women actually have longer wait times and also higher mortally rates. Trying to meet the gender needs of other cultures may also tie in to issues with the chronic underfunding our province is dealing