COVER STORY / CHIROPRACTIC FOR TODAY'S CANADA
approach teaches training participants
specific information about certain cultures.
Relevant attitudes, values, beliefs and
behaviours about a specific culture would
be taught to a group of practitioners
likely to interact with that population.
Practitioners would then be equipped,
essentially, with a set of guidelines for
an array of ethnic and cultural groups.
Controversy arose when practitioners
began to determine that this categorical
approach, while helpful, was not sufficient.
As Betancourt et al put it: “With the huge
array of cultures…and the many powerful
influences such as acculturation and
“
1
Cultural Awareness involves self-
examination on the part of the
practitioner. The exploration of
one’s own cultural and professional
background is encouraged in order
to recognize biases, prejudices and
assumptions about individuals who are
different from one’s self.
2
Cultural Knowledge has an element
of the categorical approach outlined
above. Practitioners are encouraged to
seek and obtain a “sound educational
foundation” about diverse cultures
Building a practice that provides
exceptional care to a diverse patient
roster is a long-term undertaking.”
socioeconomic status leading to intragroup variability, it is difficult to learn a
set of ‘facts’ about any particular group
and hope to be effective in caring for
them. Furthermore, these approaches may
contribute to stereotyping.”:
In the “cross-cultural” approach,
participants learn about key process
issues such as communication issues
related to caring for patients from diverse
backgrounds. The article argues that this is
a stronger approach.
In 2002, an article by Josepha
Campinha-Bacote in the Journal of
Transcultural Nursing contributed to the
discussion by presenting a model for a
process of achieving “cultural competence”
in the delivery of health care. The model is
built on five concepts