How to Be Culturally Responsive

Culture provides guidelines to people on how to live. Conversely, society is a structure that provides the way people organise themselves. Culture comprise of beliefs, values and practices of a group. In contrast, society comprises of individuals who share common beliefs, practices, customs, etc.

How to Manage a Multicultural Team

1. Overcome Language and Cultural Barriers.
2. Consider Different Cultural Communication Styles.
3. Plan Projects Around Different Time Zones.
4. Allow Prep Time Whenever Your Team Needs It.
5. Be Open to All Cultures and Their Differences.
6. Organize a Cross-Cultural Training.
7. Avoid Stereotypes.

• Developing cultural self-awareness. What influenced your own cultural identity?
• Learn to appreciate and value diverse views. Do not judge views that differ from yours as wrong.
• Avoid imposing your own values.
• Resist stereotyping.
• Learn what you can.
• Accept your own naïveté.

Use these tips from the American Psychological Association to be more culturally aware:

1. Think beyond race and ethnicity. A person’s culture is shaped by more than the color of their skin or the way that they dress.
2. Learn by asking.
3. Make local connections.
4. Pay attention to non-verbal behaviors.
5. Exchange stories.

Seven practices you can implement to increase cultural awareness in the workplace

1. Get training for global citizenship.
2. Bridge the culture gap with good communication skills.
3. Practice good manners.
4. Celebrate traditional holidays, festivals, and food.
5. Observe and listen to foreign customers and colleagues.

Cultural sensitivity is being aware that cultural differences and similarities between people exist without assigning them a value – positive or negative, better or worse, right or wrong. A challenge, if you ask me, for members of dominant cultures.

To incorporate cultural awareness into your classroom curriculum, you should:

1. Express interest in the ethnic background of your students.
2. Redirect your role in the classroom from instructor to facilitator.
3. Maintain a strict level of sensitivity to language concerns.
4. Maintain high expectations for student performance.

There are many things nurses can do to provide culturally sensitive care to an increasingly diverse nation:

1. Awareness.
2. Avoid Making Assumptions.
3. Learn About Other Cultures.
4. Build Trust and Rapport.
5. Overcome Language Barriers.
6. Educate Patients About Medical Practices.
7. Practice Active Listening.

To care for patients who are culturally different from them, family nurse practitioners should consider the following tips:

1. Don’t make assumptions.
2. Explain every detail.
3. Ask about alternative approaches to healing.
4. Withhold judgments.
5. Accommodate and educate.

“Displays of cultural sensitivity by healthcare providers result in their patients having feelings of comfort with and trust of their providers, both of which enhance patients’ satisfaction with care…and sense of interpersonal control in the healthcare process.”12 It enables patients “to feel comfortable with.

Besides reducing medical errors, enhancing data collection and improving preventive care among patients, Becker’s Hospital Review suggests culturally aware healthcare builds mutual respect and understanding that increases patient trust, promotes more inclusive health responsibilities and expands patient inclusion on …