By Jean Lau Chin, Ed.D.

Are you culturally competent? What does it mean to be culturally competent in a multicultural society? Does culture matter? Ask yourself the following questions and think about how you translate the answers into practice in your daily life:

How do you value your own culture?

Do you think about your culture?

How do you value the culture of others?

Rapidly Changing Society

We are quickly becoming a global economy given the rapid advances in technology and communication. The ease and speed with which we can communicate with others via the Internet far exceeds what we thought possible just a few years ago. Advances in travel and transport have bridged countries and cultures such that boundaries and distance are often less meaningful. Communities and cultures transcend the geographic distance once posed as barriers.

Demographic Changes

The U.S. society is also growing increasingly diverse. Demographic changes over the past decade predict that by the year 2050, racial/ethnic groups will make up 48% of the total U.S. population. It will be meaningless to talk of the white majority. Moreover, multiracial families through interracial marriages, cross-racial adoptions, blended families through divorce and remarriage all bring about families and communities where racial boundaries and cultural differences are blurred.

Growing Influence of Different Cultures on Our Daily Lives

There is a growing influence of different cultures on our daily lives. Just look at any food court in major shopping malls. The sampling of food is matched by a sampling of cultures. Spaghetti from Italy, gyros from Greece, sushi from Japan, egg rolls from China, knockwurst from Germany, burritos from Mexico are offered side by side as typical foods of choice.

Multicultural celebrations and ethnic festivals are now more commonplace as we pride ourselves on the diversity in our lives. But is it? Do you really live a multicultural life? Or is the superficial sampling of cultures found in typical shopping malls reflective of your exposure and sensitivity to culture in your life?

A Checklist for Cultural Competence Self- Assessment

Ask yourself the following questions:

1. How do you value diversity? Are you open to differences by individuals from other backgrounds? What do you do when someone in your neighborhood or workplace has practices different from your own? How do you react? Are you critical, dismissive, and demeaning in your words, behaviors, or attitudes?
2. How do you view health? Do you realize that health behaviors, utilization, and practices are intricately related to culture? The foods we eat, the emotions we feel, and our lifestyle behaviors are all influenced by cultural values, beliefs, and practices. Sociopolitical factors of poverty, racism, immigration and culture all contribute to differences in health status, utilization, and access, i.e., how we get sick, what we do when we get sick, and how we can get care.
3. What do you expect from your health care provider? Do you expect your provider to be knowledgeable about your culture and sensitive to your beliefs, practices and customs when caring for your health? Or, do you split your health and wellness from your culture and beliefs? When seeking health care services, do you have the choice to choose a provider who is knowledgeable about your culture in addition to being "technically" expert?
4. Where do you live and work? Are there diverse groups and individuals in your neighborhood, school, and workplace? Is there a tolerance for different cultural practices, e.g., time off for celebration of different ethnic festivals? Is there a recognition of, and tolerance for, different communication patterns and styles of interaction across ethnic groups? Some groups use indirect means of communication more frequently while others emphasize cooperation over competition. How do these differences translate in your neighborhood or workplace?
5. How do you rear your children? Are they aware of their cultural origins? Do you share beliefs, stories, and values about your culture with your children? What are the values you transmit and how are they related to your culture? Sometimes, it is only by observing how others are different that you can be aware of your own culture.

These are but a few of the questions you can begin to ask of yourself. Do a cultural audit of yourself, your neighborhood, your workplace, and your environment to evaluate whether or not they are culturally competent.

Electronic permission given by author.