Cultural Sensitivity & Diversity: A Necessary Awareness - Essay Sample

Introduction

Every state, race, society, and ethnic group has its own beliefs, which they consider as a culture. Since every culture is distinct from the other, our daily activities and views on different aspects of life tend to vary from one community to another. Cultural sensitivity can be defined as the awareness of the differences and similarities that exist between people without giving them value or judgment, whether positive or negative (Dabbah, 2018). Therefore, cultural sensitivity and diversity have a meaningful impact on mental illness, health, and treatment. The invention of the internet has made the world look like a global village, and as a result, we are responsible for understanding how cultural sensitivity can affect our interactions.

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The existence of an endless range of variations in individual behaviors and subgroups makes culture essential because it is the determinant of what clients present in any clinical setting. Consequently, as professionals in the health docket, our prime purpose should be striving for flexibility and keenly handling all the patients regardless of their cultural background. Cultural competence can be explained as the regulations, traits, and attitudes that enable professionals who have different cultural backgrounds to work together (Flaskerud, 2007). When dealing with mental health, the topics of cultural sensitivity and competence typically come in. For any psychiatric nurse to be successful when treating and taking care of a mentally sick patient, those two topics must be put into consideration. An understanding of cultural sensitivity is what maintains communication between a patient with a mental disorder and a nurse. In most cases, the language used by the patient usually is unknown to the nurse, and a culturally sensitive nurse will always opt to have an interpreter when dealing with such cases.

Culture is responsible for the differences that exist in the communication of individuals and how they air out their challenges. Religion may bar people from seeking help, set standards on what kind of support should be found, and how much stigma they put on mentally disordered individuals. The importance that individuals impart on certain illnesses is a result of culture, and this also applies to those who undergo mental treatment. The issue of the culture of the healthcare professionals and the system of service also factors in during the interactions with patients right from diagnosis, treatment, and care.

Cultural misunderstanding between the psychiatrist and the patient not only prevents the minorities from accessing and making use of the required care, but it also prevents those in hospitals from receiving the appropriate love and care. Cultural sensitivity is helpful during the determination of ways through which the nurses will approach the patients. Before any psychiatric assessment is conducted, the doctors usually come up with tasks and questions that will be given to the patients. By having backgrounds check on the patient, it becomes easy for the doctor to frame a question that will not be too sensitive to the patient.

Culture can affect mental health in various ways, and one idea can be through the presentation of symptoms by patients to the doctor or nurse. Some patients may have a fear of presenting their emotional symptoms and therefore talk about the somatic symptoms only. What we talk about with others is generally guided by our culture. Whatever we have been molded into by the society around us is what we mostly stick to. This explains why some patients may not mention some of the required symptoms because they have a feeling that they are not allowed to talk about certain things. However, when they are questioned more on the status of their health, they mostly end up admitting that they also experience emotional symptoms.

Cultural sensitivity and competence help the nurses to understand and respect the needs of patients. It is very vital to understand the religious beliefs of the patient instead of pushing them to attend the hospital chapel prayers. Some patients may pray so many times in a day, and that means that they should be given space to do what they are comfortable with. Besides, hygiene is another factor that calls for cultural sensitivity. The majority of mentally ill patients find it weird to shower daily. It will be unfair when they are discriminated simply because they have not showered for some time. Others may prefer to use containers to wash their bodies after visiting the latrines. They should be allowed to uphold their culture because when they are denied, they feel discouraged and offended.

In some cultures, people view mental disorder as a curse or a shame to the family; hence they are despised. This mentality makes it difficult for parents who have mentally disordered children to show up and look for treatment. Due to the shame that they feel in society, the majority of the families lock up their sick children in the houses to avoid being criticized. Cultural sanctions and restrictions passed down from one generation to another tend to affect the amount of care and love that is given to these patients. Isolation of mentally ill individuals from others makes them feel emotional distress, and this is what worsens their health status. Therefore, the culture that we uphold can either affect how we treat, interact, and view these patients or affect our acceptance of them being part of us.

Stigma and culture go hand in hand in that the attitude of the general public to mental illness is typically due to the beliefs in their communities. Stigma does not affect those who are sick alone but also lowers the self-esteem of their family members. Therefore, when a family has a mentally disordered child, they may decide to kill them as a way of covering the shame and neglect that is in their society. This makes it more difficult for people to come out and seek treatment; culture can affect how these individuals socialize with the rest simply because they are thought of being a cursed generation hence neglected. Awareness has to be conducted so that individuals who are in such societies are sensitized on mental illness. By doing so, they will be able to appreciate mental illness treatment and understand the leading causes of mental disorders.

The cultural meanings of diseases have an impact on whether individuals have the morale to seek treatment or help, handle their symptoms, and the support from the family and community. Mental illness may occur as a result of a complex interaction among the psychological, emotional, biological, and cultural factors. However, cultural and social settings are the leading causes of depression in mentally ill patients. Patients who are from supportive families hardly experience neglect or abuse, and this makes it easy for them to seek treatment. Also, culture dictates how people handle their daily problems. For instance, some of the Asian communities do not dwell on thoughts that are likely to upset them, and as a result, they tend to depend on themselves as a way of coping distress. A clear understanding of how different people deal with adversity is critical during the promotion of mental health and the prevention of mental disorders.

The culture of the clinicians may also lead to misdiagnosis due to the bias and stereotyping of racial and ethnic minorities. In as much racial discrimination has been eliminated in most of the region, some of the clinicians still manifest this syndrome more so when prescribing medications and issuing referrals. Mental health treatment in any given society is usually influenced by how they organize and deliver their services to the general public. Ethnic sensitivity and social competence among the clinicians are essential in determining the way they approach their patients.

The expansion of mental health services into various communities has led to a profound change in the perspectives of individuals on mental health. Cultural competence and sensitivity help in recognition of the culture of patients and the development of skills, policies, and the required knowledge during the treatment. When the society is sensitized on their cultural differences, it becomes easy for them to encourage one another to seek medical treatment, take care of those who are sick, and also handle one another with equity. Besides, issues of racism and discrimination are known for affecting the mental health treatment process. Discrimination is one major cause of psychological distress and low self-esteem. Therefore the society has to be enlightened on fighting against factors that tamper with the mental health of other individuals and also be encouraged to let go of cultures that disrespect humanity.

Conclusion

In conclusion, we can tell that the issues of mental disorder are highly prevalent across all populations regardless of the communities that we come from. Therefore, culture may influence our aspects of mental illness and how we handle these patients. Racism and discrimination of families who have mental disorders may lead to stigma, and this may affect their attitude towards mental health treatment. Therefore we should all embrace cultural sensitivity for there to be an enlightened,enlightenment on mental health treatment and care.

References

Dabbah, M. (2018). What is cultural sensitivity? Retrieved from https://redshoemovement.com/what-is-cultural-sensitivity/

Flaskerud, J. (2007). Cultural competence. What is it? Issues in mental health nursing. Retrieved from https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/01612840600998154?journalCode=imhn20