Practicing Culturally Sensitive Care: What Can Health Care Providers Do?

Tao Jin, Purdue University

Abstract

This study investigates health care providers’ perceptions and practice in culturally sensitive care. Previous studies mainly focus on patients’ perspective, arguing the necessities and influences of having culturally sensitive care (Chau, Yu, & Law, 2014; Watt, Gulati, Shaw, Sung, Dix, Poureslami, & Klassen, 2012). Yet, as the key participants in promoting culturally sensitive care, health care providers’ voices should be heard and understood. In order to explore this issue, 8 in-depth interviews were conducted with health care providers, including nurses, nurse practitioners, physicians and physician assistants, that lasted an average of 25 minutes. Interview questions with participants addressed issues in their perceptions of culturally sensitive care and the influential institutional and interpersonal factors of practicing it. The findings first revealed that health care providers tend to understand culturally sensitive care within the patientcentered care perspective. Their practice of culturally sensitive care is partially limited by language barriers, cultural barriers, and limited trainings in cultural sensitivity, while interpreting services, verbal and nonverbal communication strategies, collaborations with colleagues and self-education promote their practice of it. These findings underscore the importance of acknowledging health care providers’ influences in promoting culturally sensitive care, and the necessity of offering adequate amount of teachings and trainings in cultural sensitivity at health care programs and hospitals.

Degree

M.A.

Advisors

LeBlanc, Purdue University.

Subject Area

Asian American Studies|Health care management|Health sciences|Management

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