Cultural Competence in Medicine

Paper Summary:

The paper outlines how the book "The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down" recounts the tragedy of three-month-old Lia Lee, from Laos, who suffered from present-day cultural misunderstandings in hospitals. The paper looks at the programs instituted as a result of this book but maintains that not enough is not being done to prepare for the changing demographics. The paper argues that culturally effective healthcare must be integrated into all levels of education and training to provide effective healthcare for people who have cultural beliefs different from that of the majority American society.

From the Paper:

"The world including the United States is becoming increasingly culturally diverse. Over the next couple of decades, the demographics in the U.S. will be changing significantly, with a major increase in the population numbers of Hispanic and Asians in relationship to the amount of black and white citizens. The white population accounted for only 18.5 percent of the country's population increase between 2000 and 2004. The U.S. Hispanic population accounted for 14 percent of the population, but 49 percent of the four-year population increase. Looking at the age gap, one can see this difference even more: Among whites, 15 percent are age 65 and over, for Hispanics, it is 5 percent. Between 2000 and 2004 both African Americans and Asian Americans contributed about 29 percent of U.S. population growth. For Asians, however, immigration made up a much larger proportion of their share of population growth. In short, America is experiencing significant demographic change, growing more and more "minority" and less "majority." Considering that the U.S. is supposedly a "melting pot," and has always been culturally diverse, it should have the services in place to handle multiculturalism."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Compton, B., Galaway, B., & Curnoyer, B. R. (1994). Social work processes (7th ed.).Pacific Grove, CA: Brooks/Cole.
• Fadiman, Anne (1997) The Spirit Catches You, and You Fall Down. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
• Gladwell, M. (2002). The tipping point: How little things can make a big difference. Boston: Little Brown
• Gutierrez, L. M. (1995). Understanding the empowerment process: Does consciousness make a difference? Social Work Research, 19, 229-237.
• Hasnain-Wynia, R., and Pierce, D. (2007). Practicing Evidence-Based and Culturally Competent Medicine: Is it Possible? Virtual Mentor 9:572-578.

More papers on Cultural Competence in Medicine:

• Essay # 111997 : "Nursing and Culture"
• Analytical Essay # 147694 : "Ethical Considerations and Chronic Health Problems"
• Analytical Essay # 123713 : "Travel and Return"

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