cultural competency
improving cultural competency in caring for people experiencing homelessness
"Cultural competence refers to the attitudes, knowledge, and skills of practitioners necessary to become effective health care providers for patients from diverse backgrounds. Competence requires a blend of knowledge and conviction, plus a capacity for action." (AFMC Primer on Population Health)
The importance of cultural competency is in assisting health care professionals to provide appropriate care for a wide variety of individuals and to ideally reduce disparities for vulnerable populations.
This entails a need for health care providers to be mindful of their own biases, stereotypes and assumptions they bring to each patient encounter and may hold towards particular individuals - here, persons experiencing homelessness.
Health care providers need to identify those patients experiencing a form of homelessness and take their patient's living situation into consideration, adapting health care plans accordingly. Various organizations have recognized this need; for example, Health Care for the Homeless Clinician's Network have adapted clinical practice guidelines and created general recommendations for caring for people experiencing homelessness in a culturally competent manner. (Bonin et al, 2010)
The importance of cultural competency is in assisting health care professionals to provide appropriate care for a wide variety of individuals and to ideally reduce disparities for vulnerable populations.
This entails a need for health care providers to be mindful of their own biases, stereotypes and assumptions they bring to each patient encounter and may hold towards particular individuals - here, persons experiencing homelessness.
Health care providers need to identify those patients experiencing a form of homelessness and take their patient's living situation into consideration, adapting health care plans accordingly. Various organizations have recognized this need; for example, Health Care for the Homeless Clinician's Network have adapted clinical practice guidelines and created general recommendations for caring for people experiencing homelessness in a culturally competent manner. (Bonin et al, 2010)
KEY POINTS TO REMEMBER:
- "Homelessness is usually the result of a cumulative impact of a number of factors, rather than a single cause." (Gaetz, 2013)
- Always consider an individual's living situation and inquire about it in a sensitive, appropriate manner. (e.g. Where do you sleep? Is safety an issue?)
- Housing instability is a spectrum.
- The experiences of people experiencing homelessness are heterogeneous. Do not assume the experience of one individual experiencing a form of homelessness will be the same as the next person's.
- Inquire about the patient's goals and priorities - they may differ from what you perceive to be a priority. (For example, immediate medical needs and/or housing or food security may be perceived as more important at a given time than preventive health screens.)
- Work with each patient to adapt care plans according to what will best serve that individual patient's needs
HCH clinicians' network homeless_general_recommendations.pdf | |
File Size: | 564 kb |
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gaetz_2013_homelessness_in_canada.pdf | |
File Size: | 1817 kb |
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