Clinicians
As a clinician, there are several ways of achieving cultural competency. First, the practitioner should investigate each patient’s cultural background. During the admission period, patients must answer questions regarding their religion, race, ethnicity, age, and language. Patients should also discuss their cultural backgrounds during the initial interview. This helps to treat the patient in a manner that suits the patient’s backgrounds. It also helps to avoid mentioning concepts that may cause some conflict between the healthcare worker and the patient. Another way of achieving cultural competency is by recognizing that culture extends beyond skin color. People identify with different factors other than their race. Other forms of identity are based on socioeconomic status, occupation, religion, sexual preference, geographic location, and gender, among other factors. Clinicians must, therefore, understand that individuals identify with different elements and learn the expectation of the various groups to avoid chances of conflicts. Treating patients in accordance with their cultures also facilitates good patient outcomes. Health practitioners can also improve their cultural competence by determining their cultural effectiveness. Clinicians need to understand their cultural identity. This can be achieved by conducting a cultural self-analysis and observe how the results imply their psychiatric practice. For example, a person whose culture values the effectiveness of family therapy may underestimate the effectiveness of individual therapy for patients whose culture value independence. It is also recommendable that doctors elicit patients’ expectations and preferences.