Introduction to Story 1
People often associate diversity competence with understanding the beliefs, values and lifestyles of various cultural groups. Although it is very important (and interesting) to learn about different cultures, and how it affects health beliefs, behaviours and attitudes, it may not be the best place to begin.
One reason for this is because cultures are dynamic — they are constantly changing based on people’s environments, stresses and interactions. Overgeneralizing the patient’s beliefs and needs, and might not actually improve care. |
Diversity competent care includes patient-centred values based decision-making. This means when making healthcare decisions for a patient, we need to:
(a) take into account that all individuals have their own unique beliefs, practices and values as it relates to health, and (b) it is the individual’s beliefs, practices and values that should matter when making decisions for this patient. It’s not that easy though. When making healthcare decisions, the values of the healthcare provider and institution play a role as well. |
Read through the short comic, keeping these different value systems in mind.
Standard 1 Tools
This tool is designed to help you enhance your understanding of this particular standard, and help you apply the learnings from this standard to your healthcare practice.
Please read through this tool and use it in different scenarios that you see fit. Also, feel free to print it out and share it with your colleagues and teams.
Please read through this tool and use it in different scenarios that you see fit. Also, feel free to print it out and share it with your colleagues and teams.
![]()
|