Case Background
Skill Development
The literature involving cultural skill development acknowledges that courses developed to increase cultural skills and various experiences in fact increase the perceptions of practitioners in overall cultural competence and individually several sub-facets cultural competence. There is evidence that increased experience including profession, age, visiting other countries, language fluidity, and cultural immersion contribute significantly to developing overall cultural skills.
Through training courses and adoption of cultural competence standards researchers have realized significant increases in general cultural awareness as it relates to cultural informed diagnosis, culture based treatment plans, eliciting cultural strengths, materials adapted to culture, and behaviors and attitudes accepting of other cultures
Organizations Impacts
The organizational setting, which includes the population receiving care, often, plays a crucial role in how care is delivered. Both the internal environment (organizational objectives and goals, the nature of the organization’s services, communication processes and networks within the organization) and the external environment (economic, socio-cultural, political and legal, and demographic factors) can influence the provider’s ability to adapt to changes in the cultural attributes of various patient populations.
Cultural Adaptability
Hayes (2012) applies the adaptability hypothesis discussed in Module 4 to the provider to define cultural adaptability as, “the ability to receive, interpret and translate cultural environment cues from patients in to changed behavior”. Specifically:
•    Receiving- familiarity and awareness of several general cultural associations
•    Interpreting- being aware, understanding, and identifying cultural influences
•    Translating- that includes being aware, recognizing, and attempting to improve the utilization of gathered cultural information
Often cultural competence training acknowledges the need to understand, define, and use cultural competence as a method of improving practitioners’ awareness of culture in clinical work (Giger and Daivdhizar, 2004; Kim-Godwin et al., 2001; Leininger, 1967; Orque, 1983; Purnell, 1991; Suh, 2004). However, there is no explicit recognition of the reciprocal relationship between patients adapting to their environment and providers adapting to their patients and their own environment (Giger & Daivdhizar, 2004; Kim-Godwin et al., 2001; Leininger, 1967; Orque, 1983; Purnell, 1991; Suh, 2004). The cultural adaptability construct may then be used to create actionable steps towards and account for culture in treatment interactions.
The cultural adaptability constructs may also be used provide context to the linear tendency to provide generalizations across cultures and to use ethnicity and culture interchangeably as explanation for culture similarities or differences. Approaching culture in a linear manner can be counter-productive to the provider-patient interaction because it treats patients who function within even more complex systems with ever-changing cultural associations, as static. Additionally, using ethnic group identification as the primary backdrop for a discussion of cultural competence may lead to stereotyping and therefore hinder the provider patient interaction. Thus the cultural adaptability allows health care providers the opportunity to recognize how and where environmental cues can be processed.

HEALTH CARE PRACTICES & HEALTH-CARE PRACTITIONERS
Background: In this module we will utilize information from all of the modules to illustrate an understanding of the material within this course.
Assignment Expectations
While submitting your paperwork for tuition reimbursement at your place of employment, your supervisor asks which course you have just finished. You proudly tell him or her that you just received an “A” in “Cross-Cultural Studies”. Your supervisor informs you that you will have an opportunity to share what you have learned in this course with others! Specifically, you are asked to prepare a presentation for a group of healthcare professionals (physicians, nurses and therapists) on strategies that they can use to integrate principles of cultural competence into their everyday practices. You are asked to prepare a power point presentation (10 slides) INCLUDING speakers notes (you will be penalized if your speaker notes are not included). In order to help you meet the requirements, your presentation should include:
1.    Discussion as to “why” cultural competence is important in health care (1 to 2 slides).
o    Barriers to Communication
o    Patient Centered Care
2.    Potential negative outcomes that could be associated with lack of cultural competence on the part of the health care provider (1 to 2 slides)
3.    Methods that can be used to assess a client’s cultural beliefs (1 to 2 slides)
4.    Strategies that the health care professionals can use to enhance cross-cultural competence (1 to 2 slides).
o    Cultural Immersion
o    Adaptability
o    Training
5.    Sources of information where the members of the group can go to learn about members of different cultures (1 to 2 slides)
6.    PLEASE ALSO INCLUDE A REFERENCE LIST AT THE END IN A CONCLUDING SLIDE.
Additional Resources
What are speaker notes?
As you recall, the PowerPoint slides should only give your audience some “key” points about the topic. You should not try to “cram” your slides full of information. Speaker notes can help the presenter remember everything that he or she wants to say about a particular slide.
How do I make speaker notes?
Follow these simple steps to add speaker notes to your PowerPoint presentation:
1.    Open your PowerPoint presentation
2.    Go to the “View” menu and select the “Notes” page.
3.    The notes page will be small, so you will have to go to the “View” menu again and select “Zoom” in order to make them bigger. Select the percentage of zoom that you want (the higher the percentage, the larger the page will become).
4.    Click inside the notes page and begin typing your speaker notes.
5.    Continue doing this on each slide until your speaker notes are written.
6.    Once you have finished writing your speaker notes, save your presentation & it is ready to be graded!