Cultural Awareness and Sensitivity in Healthcare Delivery - Essay Example

"Cultural Awareness and Sensitivity in Healthcare Delivery" is a great example of a paper on the health system.
The Healthcare sector is a very vital part of society and therefore tends to be very sensitive to many issues. One of the emerging problems that are facing healthcare professionals in their line of duty is socio-cultural incompatibility. This is a case where the nurses, clinicians, and other healthcare givers face obstacles in terms of free interaction with patients due to unfamiliarity with the prevailing cultural structure. When dealing with various clients, it is important to be familiar with their cultural beliefs and customs that are related to health as this is an issue of cardinal significance when it comes to their approach to seeking healthcare (Nagelkerk & Huber, 2006). The prevailing cultural diversity is therefore a matter of concern among the healthcare givers since it poses some bottlenecks in terms of proper communication and patient to nurse interpersonal relationship. Ignorance of the healthcare givers on the religious doctrines, cultural norms, and personal beliefs have always lead to strained relationships between the healthcare givers and the patients they interact with and this explains inefficient performance and low-quality delivery in the health sector.

Various communities attach some importance to specific issues even when they seek healthcare services and the moment a given healthcare officer fails to understand this kind of behavior, there is likely to be friction as they communicate prescription and administer treatment to the patients (Roussel, Swansburg & Swansburg, 2006). For instance, Obstetrician–gynecologists may face resistance from some women in carrying out some diagnosis on the patient based on gender, religious faith, and even age. The conflicting cultural demand of the patient and professional knowledge of the healthcare giver may evoke a bitter misunderstanding that will end up creating ineffective communication and positive interaction and this result in low-quality healthcare.

Solution Description

It is important to underscore that the role of healthcare givers is not limited to diagnosis, treatment, and prescription of drugs. The most crucial issue that needs to be addressed by the stakeholders in healthcare is to promote positive interaction between the healthcare giver and the patients. As discussed earlier, one of the barriers to this free interaction is cultural barriers between the patient and caregiver. If the healthcare giver seems not understanding to the patient, a lot of vital confidential information may not be entrusted with the healthcare giver. This strained relation sends signals to the government and other healthcare agencies to train the healthcare officers about sound communication skills (Fitzpatrick & Kazer, 2012). Besides, it is important to give healthcare professionals basic familiarity concepts about the prevailing socio-cultural environment at a given location of work. This is a positive social spirit that can be inculcated to nurses by encouraging them through seminars and orientation about the significance of observing cultural diversity.

It is useful to instill the spirit of hospitality, tolerance, and accommodation of different cultural settings when the client hails from as this is a sensitive issue to the society at large. The healthcare professionals need to be educated on the role of effective communication which can only yield better results when the patient is assured of trust in respect of the prevailing cultural beliefs.