Culture and society Research paper 2022

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CULTURAL COMPETENCE, HUMILITY AND CULTURAL RESPONSIVENESS IN
RELATION TO PUBLIC HEALTH
by
Course
Tutor
University
City and State
Date

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Introduction
The terms cultural competence, cultural humility and cultural responsiveness refer to
various important aspects of culture in public health that makes it possible for people of different
cultures to be able to coexist, understand and appreciate one another, learn from each other,
provide high quality and competent care as well as promote understanding among health workers
and community even in the light of disparities and inequalities (Rogers, Bower, Malla, Manhire,
and Rhodes, 2017). Although the terms may be used interchangeably in different contexts, the
terms differ in terms of definition, perspective and meaning. This paper explores the aspects of
cultural competence, cultural humility and cultural responsiveness and attempts to analyze their
similarities, differences and interconnection in the field of public health.
Cultural competence
Cultural competence refers to the ability of health care institutions to provide quality
healthcare to all people regardless of their values, beliefs, ethnicity or race (Clifford, McCalman,
Bainbridge, and Tsey, 2015). Therefore, in a broader term, cultural competence refers to the
ability of healthcare providers to offer high quality services that meet the cultural, social and
linguistic needs of the patients and the society at large. Cultural competence therefore demands
of all organizations to have a set of values, beliefs and a code of conduct that guides workers in
the provision of culturally competent services. Cultural competence is necessary since there is
cultural diversity in every part of the world. Cultural competence helps to improve quality of
care by improving patient outcomes. This is so because people who feel that their culture is
respected are able to communicate more honestly and freely without bias therefore providing
accurate information that helps to improve the outcomes of care. Cultural competence can

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therefore be said to reduce health disparities and inequalities which increases the quality of care
as well as patient safety and satisfaction.
Cultural competence in the healthcare system can be improved through provision of
interpreter services to accommodate people from different ethnic backgrounds, recruitment and
retention of minority staff, coordination of formal health institutions with traditional care
providers, introduction of culture specific values and attitudes to accommodate people from
different cultures. Inclusion of family and community members in patient’s decision making,
provide easily accessible care in geographically convenient places and provision of training to
both the community and health workers to increase awareness and skills.
Various organizations have also come up with various guidelines that help to promote
cultural competence within the organization. Government, policy makers and relevant
stakeholders have also come up with various policies and laws that help to regulate service
delivery in order to ensure high standards of cultural competence especially for minority and
marginalized groups such as certain indigenous communities. (Hunt, Ramjan, McDonald, Koch,
Baird, and Salamonson, 2015). Cultural competency has also been entrenched in the teaching
curriculum so as to prepare medical students for their future practice in stable and culturally
competent environments.
Some of the guidelines that have been adopted in learning institutions to address cultural
sensitivity and competence include harnessing for a clear understanding of the impacts of social
cultural factors in healthcare, recognition of bias in different cultures, respecting and tolerating
cultural differences, the responsibility to learn and understand cultural perspectives of health and
disease and the responsibility to fight all kinds of cultural based discrimination such as racism
that may occur in the health institutions (Jongen, McCalman, and Bainbridge, 2017). Lastly, the

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government has created several accreditation bodies that focus on regulation of cultural
competence in hospitals as well as medical learning institutions.
In the recent past, cultural competence has been on the increase due to various other
factors such as the realization of human rights of all people, completion among different
organizations and hospitals as cultural competence is a good business practice as well as pressure
mounted by the government and special interest groups (Kohlbry, 2016). Among the major
efforts that have been made by the institutions include provision of bilingual and bicultural
services effectively and training to increase literacy levels. This works to equip workers with the
necessary skills to set ground for a more culturally competitive workplace.
Lastly, it is also worth noting some of the challenges that have cropped up in various
institutions and in the community at large due to lack of cultural competence. According to
Bainbridge, McCalman, Clifford, and Tsey, 2015 various marginalized and minority groups may
suffer from various illnesses and fail to seek medical services if the healthcare providers do not
offer culturally competent care. This may accelerate health risks of the larger community
especially if the diseases are communicable. There is a high likelihood of increase in diagnostic
errors due to communication and language barriers. Patient dissatisfaction and lowering of
quality standards in the hospital also increases due to lack of cultural competence.
Cultural humility
Bennett, and Gates, 2019 states that cultural humility as opposed to cultural competence
is a process of understanding culture through studying one’s own culture in terms of reflection,
inquiry and self-critique. It helps one to be able to understand and tolerate the weakness in other
cultures by reflecting on one’s own culture and understanding weaknesses and bias in one’s own