The Importance Of Intercultural Communication

Intercultural Communications can be learned and experienced in different ways because of the many different kinds of people in the world. Exploring cultures and learning how to be aware of cultural appreciation is very imperative to growing awareness. Until steps are taken outside of your comfort zone, your skills, and knowledge, and ethics, concerning cultural competence, will not be developed.

This field experience consisted of four onsite interactions with clients at St. Paul Methodist Church adult day care center. During the experience I interacted with three individual patients and lead a group of patients in an activity. Each patient was different in their personality and their own personal disability. I assisted each person in a different way that catered to their personal needs.

Many of the patients at the adult day care center live with dementia. Dementia is a general term for a decline in mental ability severe enough to interfere with daily life. (“What is Dementia?”) There are

My very first patient, James, had suffered from a Hemorrhagic stroke, when a blood vessel in the brain breaks. He had told me he had a history of high blood pressure, which is a cause of this type of stroke. (Beckerman) James had a hard time speaking loudly due to his loss of speech but he could understand others very well.

Throughout all of my experiences I felt that I had to be the voice of the person I was assisting. Many of the patients had other ways of communicating, whether that be by nonverbal communication or valued expectations that he or she required from everyone. I interacted with Mary and Kathrine whose ways of communication were very different yet unique to what they each needed and wanted. Mary communicated with her eye contact and through touching things that she wanted. Kathrine communicated through her fast language and picking with others to get what she