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Social psychology has demonstrated that stereotyping is an almost universal cognitive function. According to the Institute of Medicine, “Stereotyping is a process by which social groups gather, process and recall information about other people. Stereotyping helps people organize a very complex world and gives us more confidence in our abilities to understand a situation and respond to it.” But the downside is that stereotypes come with biases.
Larry James, chief marketing strategist at Middletown Regional Hospital and the President & CEO of L. W. James & Associates, LLC, a healthcare strategic marketing consulting firm, said understanding diversity is essential for the future of care delivery in health institutions.
“Having a good understanding of diversity is important because each patient and family brings to the institution a unique set of characteristics, attitudes, beliefs and behaviors that could profoundly impact the way that they respond to the questions, therapies, treatments, and instructions given to them regarding their particular condition,” he said.
If being culturally competent is essential to providing quality care, how do health-care professionals assess their own social stereotypes? James sees it as a process beginning with recognizing that each patient or family unit is unique and acknowledging that these differences do have the potential to significantly impact clinical outcomes.
“Secondly, the professional becomes even more competent when he/she uses that understanding of those differences to interact more appropriately or effectively with the patient and family,” James said. “This enhances their understanding and response/compliance to questions and instructions that facilitate the healing process. And, finally, the professional achieves optimal competence when he/she uses this knowledge to adapt the required therapies, processes and treatments to better fit the patient’s or family’s unique cultural profile.”
Noted anthropologist Margaret Mead, who studied cultures throughout the world, summed it up best:
“If we are to achieve a richer culture, rich in contrasting values, we must recognize the whole gamut of human potentialities, and so weave a less arbitrary social fabric, one in which each diverse human gift will find a fitting place.”
Excerpts taken from Health Care Today
March/April 2005
Pages 12-13
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