Running head: DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
Discussion Questions
Student’s Name
Professor’s Name
Course Title
Date
, DISCUSSION QUESTIONS 2
Question #1: Define culturally competent care and culturally congruent care and discuss why
there has been an emphasis on providing culturally congruent care within the last decade.
Also, identify problems, barriers, ethical and economic concerns and challenges associated
with becoming culturally competent.
The increase in diversity of individuals in the U.S. presents both an opportunity and a
challenge for healthcare providers in terms of delivering culturally sensitive care. Culturally
competent care refers to the ability of healthcare providers in delivering services that meet the
cultural, linguistic and social needs of a patient (Purnell, 2012). Culturally competent care
helps in eliminating existing ethnic and racial disparities in health, thereby contributing to
positive outcomes and improving the quality of care. In turn, culturally congruent care is the
cognitively based supportive, facilitative, and assistive actions and decisions which are
custom made according to the needs, beliefs, lifeway and cultural values of the individual,
group or institution in an effort to provide satisfying, beneficial and meaningful healthcare
services for overall well-being (Hawala-Druy & Hill, 2012; p.105). Within the last decade,
the emphasis has been made on the provision of culturally congruent care for various reasons.
Essentially, culturally congruent care provides for effective interaction, mutual respect and
understanding, and communication between clients and healthcare providers, leading to
individualized and patient-centered care. It leads to improved outcomes, lowered costs
associated with healthcare, better compliance of patients with the medical regimens and
decreased emergency room visits (Hawala-Druy & Hill, 2012).
Barriers and problems reported by nurse facilitators in providing culturally congruent
care majorly include language barriers, especially when dealing with individuals from
minority cultures, the sometimes negative influence of cultural difference on service delivery
and the limited or lack of resources to facilitate culturally congruent care. The impact of this
is that the caregiver is unable to give effective information and instructions to the patients and
Discussion Questions
Student’s Name
Professor’s Name
Course Title
Date
, DISCUSSION QUESTIONS 2
Question #1: Define culturally competent care and culturally congruent care and discuss why
there has been an emphasis on providing culturally congruent care within the last decade.
Also, identify problems, barriers, ethical and economic concerns and challenges associated
with becoming culturally competent.
The increase in diversity of individuals in the U.S. presents both an opportunity and a
challenge for healthcare providers in terms of delivering culturally sensitive care. Culturally
competent care refers to the ability of healthcare providers in delivering services that meet the
cultural, linguistic and social needs of a patient (Purnell, 2012). Culturally competent care
helps in eliminating existing ethnic and racial disparities in health, thereby contributing to
positive outcomes and improving the quality of care. In turn, culturally congruent care is the
cognitively based supportive, facilitative, and assistive actions and decisions which are
custom made according to the needs, beliefs, lifeway and cultural values of the individual,
group or institution in an effort to provide satisfying, beneficial and meaningful healthcare
services for overall well-being (Hawala-Druy & Hill, 2012; p.105). Within the last decade,
the emphasis has been made on the provision of culturally congruent care for various reasons.
Essentially, culturally congruent care provides for effective interaction, mutual respect and
understanding, and communication between clients and healthcare providers, leading to
individualized and patient-centered care. It leads to improved outcomes, lowered costs
associated with healthcare, better compliance of patients with the medical regimens and
decreased emergency room visits (Hawala-Druy & Hill, 2012).
Barriers and problems reported by nurse facilitators in providing culturally congruent
care majorly include language barriers, especially when dealing with individuals from
minority cultures, the sometimes negative influence of cultural difference on service delivery
and the limited or lack of resources to facilitate culturally congruent care. The impact of this
is that the caregiver is unable to give effective information and instructions to the patients and
