The Role of Cultural Brokers - Research Paper Example

The Role of Cultural Brokers Abstract Healthcare providers often have unique roles as brokers between their clients and the healthcare system. The healthcare brokers ensure adequate access to various medicines and services offered by the healthcare facilities. Therefore, healthcare brokerage is a pivotal role in healthcare service delivery. The study explicates the different roles played by healthcare brokers in the attempt to mediate between the society and the facilities. To elucidate healthcare providers’ roles, there is need for thorough investigations. Towards achieving its goals, this qualitative, cross-sectional study concentrates on semi-structured interviews. The investigator interviewed nurses, doctors, community members, and pharmacy personnel in one of the public healthcare facilities and a neighboring community. Analysis of the results indicated that it is vital to incorporate healthcare brokers into the healthcare systems. Healthcare negotiators review interviews that occurred between clients and healthcare providers. They also analyze the clinical reports and case conferences to infer meaning and refer clients accordingly. Additionally, brokers in the healthcare system mediate the varied viewpoints held by the clients and healthcare providers. Further, they help to bring about the clients’ cultural experiences, values, and expectations. In understanding the impacts of the cultural aspect, many organizations and healthcare personnel can offer the best services to their esteemed clients. Despite the challenges facing the cultural brokers, it is of utmost importance to find the means to involve cultural brokers in the delivery of the healthcare services. It is conclusively paramount to have the healthcare cultural brokers to ensure achievement of goals and missions of the healthcare systems. Introduction Cultural brokering refers to the process through which an individual acts as an advocate or a link between persons of divergent cultural backgrounds. An active agent displays the acquaintance, sensitivity, and skills of being aware of the cultural influences that affect people’s lives. Further, the broker has the appropriate training to act within the profession as an informed go-between (Major & Gooden, 2012). Understanding the concept of cultural brokerage entails a critical look at culture, co-culture, mediation of culture, health culture, and culture broker. For instance, the role of a cultural broker links with aims of cultural competence. Hence, cultural brokers are pivotal in everyday life due to their important roles of mediating disputes that usually take the foci of human nature (Pink, 2007). The role of a cultural broker In the clinical setup, a cultural broker has various central functions to align the objectives set to meet the clients’ expectations. Firstly, the aim of the cultural brokers is to derive a sense of the patients’ narratives related to their predicament. In achieving brokerage in this context, the cultural broker reviews the clinical interviews, reports, and checks cases from conferences. For instance, the difficulty may involve the patients’ illness experience, traumas, life trajectories, and the migration history. Secondly, the brokers clarify the main aspect of healthcare system, work, migration processes, and other social matters. Finally, the negotiators get involved in mediation of divergent viewpoints between the caregivers and the clients (Kirmayer, 2014). As a cultural broker, one uses the indigenous culture as a symbolic icon for the national identity. Essentially, the cultural broker assumes the sole role and exclusive duty of the representation of local cultures. In so doing, the indigenous cultures become a tradition by just constructing the former to be a part of the latter unspoken cultural dimension of common sense (Worley, 2013). Qualifications of a cultural broker In the context of medicine, a cultural broker is one who approaches clients as unique beings that have their different stories to tell. Besides, a competent cultural broker promotes confidence and trust, characterizes and clarifies a client’s concern, and creates a continued relationship. Hence, healthcare practitioners have diverse knowledge bases, attitudes, and skills to deal with issues of their clients (Saha, 2008). The role of a cultural broker in human service and education In the US, enactment of ‘Elementary and Secondary Education Act’ coupled with the ‘Disabilities Education Improvement Act’ reauthorizes and demands increased accountability in learning institutions. Cognizant of the mandates provided by these acts, a speech-language pathologist finds a place in the education context. The responsibilities and roles of the pathologist as a cultural broker extend to distinguishing between a communication disorder and a communication difference among the served clientele. Further, the cultural brokers bring expertise into the education context. For instance, the unique base helps in understanding the relationships between, literacy, language, and teaching (Thomas, 2010). How to expand an individual professionalism to include that of a broker As a professional cultural broker, one needs to expound the potentialities that are explicit to offer service to humanity. For instance, competent cultural brokers have the ability to stress the strengths of their clients and apply critical and creative thinking to address the client’s challenges. In addition, the broker must develop awareness in the aspect of cross-cultural interviews, and have the capacity to address the spiritual diversity that explicates human character. Importance of medical organizations in having cultural brokers The healthcare sector requires the caregiver to add some degree of cultural awareness to their repertoires. Principally, they achieve cultural competence by learning the consequences of culture on the diverse aspects of healthcare and health. Further, they need to learn the values specific to various cultures pertinent to their clients. Healthcare providers identify the needs of the consumers and respond to their cultural needs. Hence, they need to have extensive knowledge concerning the cultural values. Arguably, the healthcare providers perceive the clients’ situations and compare them to their own. Further, they mediate between them to achieve the best, mutual, and satisfactory intervention. Apparently, there exist Ethno-specific organizations that offer medical care. Many of these organizations have relations with the support groups in the community, hence vital to have cultural brokers to strike a balance between them. Conclusion The cultural brokers act as a link between the professional bodies and the diverse base of the clientele. Given the broad knowledge that cultural brokers have concerning the various values and practices, it is advisable to incorporate them into the healthcare structure. In so doing, the healthcare services will achieve high efficiency and the effectiveness desired by individual organizations. References Ashman, K. & Hull, G. (2015). Understanding generalist practice. Australia Stamford, CT: Cengage Learning. Kirmayer, L., Guzder, J. & Rousseau, C. (2014). Cultural consultation encountering the other in mental health care. New York: Springer. Major, K. & Gooden, S. (2012). Cultural competency for public administrators. Armonk, N.Y: M.E. Sharpe. Pink, S. (2007). Visual interventions: applied visual anthropology. New York Oxford: Berghahn Books. Saha, Somnath., Beach, Mary, C, and Cooper, Lisa A. (2008). Patient Centeredness, Cultural Competence and Healthcare Quality. Journal of National Medication Association. 2008 Nov; 100(11): 1275–1285 Srivastava, R. (2007). The healthcare professional's guide to clinical cultural competence. Toronto: Mosby Elsevier. Thomas, U. (2010). Culture or chaos in the village the journey to cultural fluency. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield Education. Worley, P. (2013). Telling and being told storytelling and cultural control in contemporary Yucatec Maya literatures. Tucson: University of Arizona Press. Read More