This section contains information on Multicultural Wellness. As stated in the beginning of the semester, this type of wellness is an awareness of your own cultural background and becoming knowledgeable about, respectful of, and sensitive to the culture of others. A person could attend a diversity lecture or event; or become an active member in a club that promotes multiculturalism; and they would take the initiative to learn about the cultures of peers.
Cultural Wellness
Includes accepting, valuing, and even celebrating the different cultural ways people interact in the world. The extent to which you maintain and appreciate cultural identities is one measure of cultural wellness. Honoring all voices and experiences, and believing that everyone has a seat at the table are cornerstones of cultural wellness. (http://www.belmont.edu/be-well-bu/wellness/cultural-wellness.html)
Examples of Practicing Cultural Wellness
Immerse yourself within a different environment, culture, or locale
One place to start is in the city of Lancaster, which has a wide range of restaurants serving food from around the globe: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/23/dining/lancaster-pennsylvania-restaurants.html
(if you run into a subscription paywall for the above link, just copy and paste the link into an incognito window)
Participate in a study abroad trip: https://www.millersville.edu/internationalprograms/index.php
Attend convocations that may challenge your way of thinking
Respectfully engage in conversations with people who are different than you
A great deal of information about events around MU can be found by contacting this office: https://www.millersville.edu/dsj/index.php
Health Disparities
A main reason that we discuss cultural wellness in this class is due to documented health disparities in individuals from diverse communities. An introduction to these issues can be found on this website: https://adaa.org/diverse-communities Each of the categories listed give a brief introduction followed by a "Read More" link. Remember, multicultural wellness is "becoming knowledgeable about, respectful of, and sensitive to the culture of others." Therefore, reading the extra information about health issues that others (who have a different background than your own) deal with is a great place to start.
Micro-Aggressions
One cause of health disparities within a Multicultural society happen to those who experience microaggressions. For a definition of what a microaggression is, go to this website: https://www.verywellmind.com/what-are-microaggressions-4843519 While visiting that website, you may also want to understand the different types of microaggressions. For some examples of what a microaggression may look like, please open this document:
For those who do experience microaggressions, they tend to experience higher levels of anxiety and depression leading to poorer emotional wellness. If you complete a google scholar search on the terms microaggression, anxiety, and depression, you end up with over 14,000 research articles to choose from: https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=depression+anxiety+microaggressions&hl=en&as_sdt=0&as_vis=1&oi=scholart
The following video also provides a good explanation of Microaggressions as well as examples from college students:
Cultural Responsiveness
To increase a person's level of multicultural wellness, they should become culturally responsive. A definition of cultural responsiveness would be "the ability to learn from and relate respectfully with people of your own culture as well as those from other cultures." https://mn.gov/dhs/mnsoc/core-values/culturally-responsive.jsp. This website describes cultural responsiveness as part of a continuum leading to a person becoming culturally proficient.
There are a number of diverse groups that may not be treated equally by institutions, communities, organizations, or businesses that you could work for in the future. These include (found on this website):
Marginalized or socially excluded groups
Nationality
Ethnicity
Native language
Race
Gender
Sexual orientation
Social class
Spiritual beliefs and practice
Physical and mental ability
And some that are not as noticeable:
Age
Educational status
Family status
Health status
Style
Skills and talents
Customs
Ideas
Military experience
National, regional, or other geographical area
Ownership of property
Occupational status
Socioeconomic status
The pathway to cultural responsiveness is a lifelong journey and the journey may never end. But this quest of trying to get to know those from a background that differs from your own leads us to Cultural Humility, which is "having a humble and respectful attitude toward people of other cultures. It involves ongoing self-exploration combined with a willingness to learn from others. It helps us recognize our cultural biases and realize that we can't know everything about a culture. " (https://www.aafp.org/news/blogs/leadervoices/entry/20190418lv-humility.html) <--- This reference on Cultural Humility describes how it can be utilized in the health services field (e.g. doctors, social workers, psychologists, etc.) and it may account for some of the health disparities seen in diverse populations.
To start on the path of cultural responsiveness, perhaps one can learn how to communicate with an individual from another culture. To do so, a person needs to learn about barriers to good communication with others. One example could be the types of gestures that one uses, which in a different culture could be something completely different:
"You never get a second chance to make a first impression" Will Rogers
To meet someone for the first time from another culture can make a lasting impression. Many cultures have ways to greet each other. Learning how to can make a positive impression on those individuals from a background that is different than your own. An example could be in the way you might want to greet someone with a handshake: