What are the benefits of cultural competence? Improved Patient Outcomes
Cultural competence improves communication, which keeps patients safer. Clear communication allows healthcare providers to collect accurate medical information. It also encourages active dialogues in which patients and providers can ask questions, correct misunderstandings, and build trust.
What does cultural competence mean?
Cultural competence is the ability to effectively interact with people from cultures different from one’s own, especially through a knowledge and appreciation of cultural differences.
In general, competence means the quality of possessing the necessary skill or knowledge to handle a particular situation or task. In cultural competence, this means having the knowledge and tact to understand people and treat them equitably despite cultural differences (which often result in very different views about what is expected or appropriate in a particular situation).
Cultural competence is often used in the context of medicine, in discussions about improving medical care for patients of all cultures. For example, knowing that some patients’ religious practices may prevent them from attending appointments at certain times may help a health care provider to provide better care by offering more flexible appointment times or other accommodations. The term is also becoming more well-known in other contexts, such as in discussions of how to make workplaces more equitable and inclusive.
The adjective culturally competent is used to describe a person who has cultural competence or actions that demonstrate cultural competence. Example: Any hospital that wants to improve patient outcomes should be training its staff in cultural competence.
lntercultural competence is the ability to function effectively across cultures, to think and act appropriately, and to communicate and work with people from different cultural backgrounds – at home or abroad.Intercultural competence is a valuable asset in an increasingly globalised world where we are more likely to interact with people from different cultures and countries who have been shaped by different values, beliefs and experiences. Intercultural competence is part of a family of concepts including global competence, graduate attributes, employability skills, global citizenship, education for sustainable development and global employability. Core to all these concepts is recognition of globalisation as a force for change in all aspects of the contemporary world, and the importance for graduates to be able to engage and act globally.
Cross-cultural competence refers to the knowledge, skills, and affect/motivation that enable individuals to adapt effectively in cross-cultural environments.Cross-cultural competence is defined here as an individual capability that contributes to intercultural effectiveness regardless of the particular intersection of cultures. The concept may overlap to that of so-called cultural agility. Although some aspects of cognition, behavior, or affect may be particularly relevant in a specific country or region, evidence suggests that a core set of competencies enables adaptation to any culture