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Health care is a good example of a field in which its practitioners are not only aware of the diversity of those who use their services but also of the need to be culturally competent when providing services, as discussed in this recent post.

In a recent talk in Connecticity, Sheila Thorne urged health care providers to realize that when working with patients from different cultures, they not only have to be aware of the language barrier but also of the mindset that these groups bring with them. 

Thorne shared an anecdote with the audience as well as its attendant lesson:

One physician that Thorne knows had a Latino patient who kept returning, complaining about an ear infection that wouldn’t go away. The patient remarked that it must be God’s will that she suffer with it, Thorne said. “And the physician responded, then it must be God’s will that keeps bringing you back to me to do something about it. The important thing that all health-care providers have to keep in mind is avoid poo-pooing the attitudes and beliefs these patients come to them with.”

Thorne was followed by a number of health-care advocates who suggested that the medical establishment needs to engage in a dialogue with minority patients, to question them about what they believe is at the root of whatever ails them, what their treatment goals are and whether there are outside social and economic dynamics that affect their health.

The article mentions that six states currently require their medical schools to provide a cultural competence curriculum to their graduates, and Thorne expects that more states will add this requirement as they realize that culturally competent practitioners provide better service and possibly lower long-term treatment costs.