The need for cultural competence in home care is growing as America’s population becomes more diverse and as more seniors choose to age in place.
Healthcare workers at all levels must have a certain level of cultural competence to adequately care for patients. This is especially true for nurses and other direct care staff who work with patients at home.
In home settings, patients have more control over their care. They may be quicker to dismiss a nurse or aide they perceive as insensitive or indifferent to their needs or with whom they have difficulty communicating.
WHAT IS CULTURAL COMPETENCE?
Cultural competence is the ability to effectively communicate with people of different cultures and backgrounds. The goal of cultural competence in health/home care is to provide high-quality care to every patient, regardless of race, ethnicity, culture, or English proficiency or literacy.
A caregiver who is culturally competent is curious, respectful, and responsive to their patients’ beliefs and preferences. While there’s no way for home care staff to know all the nuances of every culture, with the tight training they can learn how to assess patients’ cultural backgrounds and language skills to communicate more effectively.
WHAT DO ABOUT IT?
At pure heart, we ensure that all our staff go through a special selection process where they are vetted for good healthcare practices and professionalism. After which, we then train them on modern day healthcare practices amongst which is cultural competence and sensitivity. This goes a long way to ensure that our services are culturally specific such as to respect and dignify our clients in every way possible.