Why is closing the gap on health disparities and inequalities so important? - Answers Because it
will lead to better health for all Americans and is a responsibility of all health care providers
Why is it important to learn about culture? - Answers It expands and enhances the way that we
assess and deliver health care services by acknowledging, appreciating, and incorporating the
beliefs, values, rituals, symbols, and standards of conduct.
What are the three reasons for a health care provider to be in the constant pursuit of cultural
competency? - Answers 1. The societal realities of a changing world
2. The influence of culture and ethnicity on human
growth and development
3. The challenge of providing effective and quality
health care to all people
Why is combining medical and social science important? - Answers Integrated pattern of human
behavior, beliefs, values, languages, expected behaviors of a racial, ethnic, or religious group.
What is health disparity? - Answers A population-specific difference in the presence of disease,
health outcomes, or access to care
What is culture? - Answers LEARNED behavior. An integrated pattern of human behavior that
includes thoughts, communications, languages, practices, beliefs, values, customs, etc as well
as the ability to transmit these to succeeding generations (ethnocentrism)
What is Ethnocentrism? - Answers Judging others by one's own cultural standards
What factors influence culture? - Answers Age
Socioeconomic Status
Gender
Educational Attainment
Geography
Family
Place of birth
Length of residency in the US
Religious beliefs
, Individual experiences
Sexual preference
Power relationships
What is cultural competency? - Answers Ability to provide care to patients with diverse values,
beliefs, and behaviors
What are the levels in the Cultural Competence Continuum? - Answers Cultural Destructiveness
Cultural incapacity
Cultural blindness
Cultural Pre-competence
Cultural Competence
Cultural Proficiency
Cultural Destructiveness - Answers The most negative end of the continuum. Represented by
attitudes, policies, and practices that are destructive to culture, communities, and individuals.
Extreme example: cultural genocide
Cultural Incapacity - Answers Systems, agencies, or individuals do not intentionally seek to be
culturally destructive, but lack the capacity to help clients or communities of diverse
backgrounds. The systems remain extremely bias and believe in racial superiority.
Cultural Blindness - Answers Systems, agencies, or individuals provide services with the
philosophy of being unbiased. It is believed that cultures make no difference and all people are
the same.
What are the consequences of Cultural Blindness? - Answers The consequences of such a
belief are to make services ethnocentric and therefore only useful for the most assimilated.
People of diverse cultures are anticipated to meet the needs and expectations of the dominant
group.
Cultural Pre-Competence - Answers On the positive end of the scale, awareness of some
sensitivity but not sure what to do or what is "right". A system, agency, or individual recognizes
its weaknesses in serving clients of cultural diversity and attempts to improve. Care must be
taken at this level so that a false sense of accomplishment does not prevent the movement
along the continuum
Cultural Competence - Answers Culturally competent systems, agencies, or individuals are
characterized by acceptance and respect for difference. There is ongoing self-assessment
regarding culture, expansion of knowledge , and adaption of service models to better meet the