Overcoming cultural barriers
Readiness to learn differs from culture to culture
When treating patients, remember that their cultural differences may affect their rehabilitation. How do you unearth these differences?Yvonne Brookes, RN, performance consultant and patient education liaison at Baptist Health Systems in Miami, and her colleague Helen Slavin, MS, performance consultant in education services, provide these 10 strategies:
• Be a detective, constantly searching for clues.
• Take time to observe behavior and delay attaching meaning.
• Don’t assume. Ask.
• Use all your sources.
• Ask open-ended vs. close-ended questions.
• Educate yourself about other cultures. Ask people to tell you about their culture.
• Avoid stereotypes. One size for all doesn’t work for clothes or people.
• Be a listener. Use active listening to elicit the information you need.
• Check it out. Once you think you understand, test your reality. See if what you think is true.
• Relax and enjoy it. Exploring diversity is a wonderful adventure, not a minefield.
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