Cultural Competence Summary

1- Why is cultural and linguistic competence an essential component in the work towards addressing and eliminating health disparities?
Eliminating health disparities is an extremely difficult and complex task. There are many steps that come together to make changes in these areas, but they wax and wane, regardless of their pressing importance. To eliminate anything, it must first be addressed. Addressing health disparities is plainly important, but without competence in the populations and cultures we are examining, it is difficult to open up pathways of communication, decreasing efficiency and efficacy in the elimination of health disparities. Increasing linguistic and cultural competence allows lines of communication to open and information

to be passed. When people are able to accurately understand each other, barriers are removed, support and empathy increase, and the overall connection increases in quality. Implementing cultural and linguistic competence in our racialized society, particularly in healthcare settings, has been shown to be a direct predictor of increasing quality of health outcomes and has been shown to predict a decrease in health disparities. We want to help reduce health disparities, increasing cultural and linguistic competence has demonstrated effectiveness in this area, as such, more resources need to be allocated to these areas.
2- Please share two or three things you learned from the two articles and why you think this is relevant to understanding cultural competency.

Be sure to specifically cite the source.
In the article, Toward a Fourth Generation of Disparities Research to Achieve Health Equity, I believe that the authors wanted their readers to understand the importance of implementing a fourth generation, hence altering their current three phase paradigm of research. Allowing there to be further exploration in the fourth generation provides an extra step in decreasing disparities, increasing the reflection and abilities of those trying to decrease disparities increases their cultural competence.
In the article, Continuing the Conversation in Nursing on Race and Racism, the authors indicate that decreasing disparities needs to be done by those in power, we will have the biggest impact. I agree. People who hold power and privilege have the luxury to educate themselves if they wish. The authors make the point to say that black individuals often feel the need to educate whites on race and racism, however, it is not and should need be their responsibility. Which goes back to the need for those with privilege to take action and address these issues of race, racism and their related disparities. White people have the ability, opportunities and resources to learn about these issues, to understand cultural and linguistic competence and can start the important conversations that need to happen in order for these racial health disparities to be addressed and

combated.