Institute:Office of National Coordinator (ONC) Workforce Training Curriculum
Component:The Culture of Health Care
Unit:An Overview of the Culture of Health Care
Lecture:What is meant by "the culture of health care"
Slide content:Cultural Competence Awareness and respect for cultural differences Approach every person as an individual Examples Traditional beliefs re: transfusion, vaccines Application to HIT workforce Assumptions built into HIT including new technology drivers and development Stereotypes about HIT interest or proficiency of health professionals. 16
Slide notes:Each of the groups that weve mentioned may have specific beliefs, values, or practices that must be understood when encountered in our health care system if we are to deliver effective health care. We refer to this as cultural competence, or an awareness of and respect for cultural differences. Its especially important in this regard to avoid cultural stereotypes that may or may not apply to a given individual, and not to assume that because a person belongs to a particular cultural group, that they uniformly share and adhere to some stereotype about that groups beliefs. Some specific issues that need to be considered include things like traditional beliefs about transfusions or vaccines. The bottom line is each person has to be approached as an individual - there is no cookie-cutter approach. We can adopt this same notion of cultural competence in our dealings with other groups in the health care system. When we think about the health care workforce, its easy to bring with us stereotypes about different health professionals and their behaviors. 16