U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Minority Health says cultural competency is "One of the main ingredients in closing the disparities gap in health care" ( http://minorityhealth.hhs.gov/templates/browse.aspx?lvl=2&lvlID=11 )
Cultural Competency
Cultural competency is allowing the association of culture into perspective when dealing with preventing and treating disease (Joralemon 2010: 137). This is used to close a cultural gap between the health care professionals and patient(s) to better understand and help in prevention and treatment (http://minorityhealth.hhs.gov/templates/browse.aspx?lvl=2&lvlID=11).
How Cultural Comptency links to Critical and Applied Anthropology
Cultural competency in critical anthropology
Cultural competency is present in critical anthropology because there are attempts to gain insight and information regarding the culture. In doing so this assists in whatever physical ailment, disease, or problem is present. Critical anthropologists may focus more on socioeconomic status, political issues, and improving health statuses, but is focused upon after knowing how these diseases or ailments are seen in a community, the current concerns, and cultural views.
Cultural competency in applied anthropology
Similar to cultural competency in critical anthropology, it is seen in applied anthropology to learn about the ways of the people, their religious views, cultural aspects, how they view illness and ailments, their language, how they depict certain doctors, and much more. Applied anthropologists try to research information, attempt to analyze, and interpret. This is a beneficial way to gain insight on views of the culture and to better understand how they view a disease and gain trust. Gaining trust and a relationship with the people is a step most important in health care; it is something some health care professionals lack while in their field of work.
Professional Views
Many anthropologists have different insights towards ways to view different cultures. Donald Joralemon, a PhD professor of anthropology at Smith College, and Arthur Kleinman, a psychiatrist and medical anthropologist, bring up points towards health care professionals to look at their own personal culture in order to care for those in other cultures.
Joralemon delivered a message, in a national conference organized by the Health Resources and Services Administration, Division of Transplantation, saying “the obstacles are those of your own ‘culture,’ not of the ‘target population’” (Joralemon 2010: 101). In this message he portrays the conclusions brought forth by applied medical anthropologists.
Arthur Kleinman proposed questions rendering a similar message to that of Joralemon’s, he asked, “If you can’t see that your own culture has its own set of interests, emotions, and biases, how can you expect to deal successfully with someone else’s culture?” (Fadiman 1997: 261).
Cultural competency is present in critical anthropology because there are attempts to gain insight and information regarding the culture. In doing so this assists in whatever physical ailment, disease, or problem is present. Critical anthropologists may focus more on socioeconomic status, political issues, and improving health statuses, but is focused upon after knowing how these diseases or ailments are seen in a community, the current concerns, and cultural views.
Cultural competency in applied anthropology
Similar to cultural competency in critical anthropology, it is seen in applied anthropology to learn about the ways of the people, their religious views, cultural aspects, how they view illness and ailments, their language, how they depict certain doctors, and much more. Applied anthropologists try to research information, attempt to analyze, and interpret. This is a beneficial way to gain insight on views of the culture and to better understand how they view a disease and gain trust. Gaining trust and a relationship with the people is a step most important in health care; it is something some health care professionals lack while in their field of work.
Professional Views
Many anthropologists have different insights towards ways to view different cultures. Donald Joralemon, a PhD professor of anthropology at Smith College, and Arthur Kleinman, a psychiatrist and medical anthropologist, bring up points towards health care professionals to look at their own personal culture in order to care for those in other cultures.
Joralemon delivered a message, in a national conference organized by the Health Resources and Services Administration, Division of Transplantation, saying “the obstacles are those of your own ‘culture,’ not of the ‘target population’” (Joralemon 2010: 101). In this message he portrays the conclusions brought forth by applied medical anthropologists.
Arthur Kleinman proposed questions rendering a similar message to that of Joralemon’s, he asked, “If you can’t see that your own culture has its own set of interests, emotions, and biases, how can you expect to deal successfully with someone else’s culture?” (Fadiman 1997: 261).