There were two articles within our research that mentioned paradigms of thought in regards to cultural competency.
One article by Curtis et al., (2019) mentioned that cultural competency has changed over the years due to a narrowed understanding of what cultural competency really is. As we mentioned throughout our presentation, cultural competency is something that has to be reflected on in order to ensure that biases and assumptions do not overpower the interaction between a patient and a healthcare provider.
Essentialism is defined in the article as when providers only focus on the individual themselves and not the aspects that culture and environment may play into the health of an individual or population (Curtis et al., 2019). Healthcare providers practicing under essentialism make assumptions about a population based on stereotypes, and do not focus on what may be causing health issues on a greater scale, rather only what they think is causing the problem (Curtis et al., 2019).
Authors suggest that cultural competency should be more critical in thought as healthcare providers need to participate in reflective processes about culture and health institutions need to ensure that they are providing opportunities for their environment to be culturally competent. Healthcare professionals and environments need to reflect upon their biases and assumptions and be responsible for providing culturally safe care (Curtis et al., 2019). If they are not doing this, they need to be willing to critique their power structures and challenge their own cultures and cultural systems (Curtis et al., 2019). This follows in the critical theorist paradigm as the authors are suggesting that organizations who are not culturally competent, challenge the power relations and issues that are creating barriers in order to make the necessary changes they need to. By not being culturally competent, the organization itself is creating inequities in their care for vulnerable populations (Curtis et al., 2019).
Curtis et al., 2019
A second article by Blanchet Garneau & Pepin (2014), discussed the proposal of a different paradigm of thought for cultural competency in nursing education in order to develop more knowledge about culturally competent care in nursing students.
They stated in their article that cultural competence has a very essentialist view in practice, meaning that culture is viewed as static and unchanging and defines the differences between people (Blanchet Garneau & Pepin, 2014). Culture is more associated with race and ethnicity and health and disease is derived from aspects of your cultural behaviours rather than socioeconomic status or conditions (Blanchet Garneau & Pepin, 2014).
They concluded that since cultural competence is the process of learning aspects of another culture from a population group or individual and applying it into practice settings, then perhaps there should be a more constructivist based definition (Blanchet Garneau & Pepin, 2014). Nurses and healthcare providers engage with their patients to understand their complexities and how culture and environment could play a role in that. Healthcare providers are always acting in an ongoing process of developing new ways of thinking and adapting their care and treatment methods to meet the needs of different cultures, further warranting a more constructivist view of cultural competency in practice settings (Blanchet Garneau & Pepin, 2014).
The authors felt that changing the definition of cultural competency at an educational level would give nursing students the framework for critically reflecting on their practice and develop new knowledge on how important cultural competence is in reducing disparities and inequities in care (Blanchet Garneau & Pepin, 2014).
Blanchet Garneau & Pepin (2014).