Healthcare in America
Healthcare in America:
Financially Subsidizing Cultural Competence in the Healthcare System
Introduction Healthcare has always formed a fundamental aspect of any nation. In fact, the economic health of any nation can be determined by examining the healthcare sector. Unfortunately, many countries are unable to provide comprehensive healthcare to their citizens. Of course, there are varied reasons for this in different countries, but for the United States, one of the most fundamental reasons has been the cultural disparity. Research has shown that the healthcare sector, as it is today, was formed with the majority races and cultures in mind, in which case the minorities have always felt as if they are left out (Welch, 1997). This has bred calls for advocacy and cultural competency. There have been calls that the US government should financially subsidize efforts to create a more culturally competent health care system. It goes without saying that giving these financial subsidies are some of the best things that ever happened to the healthcare sector. The United States Department of Health and Human Services defines cultural competency as incorporating the attitudes, policies and behaviors that would safeguard diverse interaction once placed on continuum. Scholars have also defined it as the consistency of attitudes, policies and behaviors that are combined in an organization or system to operate in cross-cultural environments (Welch, 1997). The advantages of financially subsidizing efforts to create a more culturally competent healthcare system revolve around its effects. First, cultural competence in the healthcare sector is seen as one of the strategies that would be effective in enhancing healthcare provision especially among the racial minorities. As stated, a large part of the healthcare infrastructure in the United States was developed before the civil rights era, in which case it propagated institutionalized prejudice against minorities (Welch,
Financially Subsidizing Cultural Competence in the Healthcare System
Introduction Healthcare has always formed a fundamental aspect of any nation. In fact, the economic health of any nation can be determined by examining the healthcare sector. Unfortunately, many countries are unable to provide comprehensive healthcare to their citizens. Of course, there are varied reasons for this in different countries, but for the United States, one of the most fundamental reasons has been the cultural disparity. Research has shown that the healthcare sector, as it is today, was formed with the majority races and cultures in mind, in which case the minorities have always felt as if they are left out (Welch, 1997). This has bred calls for advocacy and cultural competency. There have been calls that the US government should financially subsidize efforts to create a more culturally competent health care system. It goes without saying that giving these financial subsidies are some of the best things that ever happened to the healthcare sector. The United States Department of Health and Human Services defines cultural competency as incorporating the attitudes, policies and behaviors that would safeguard diverse interaction once placed on continuum. Scholars have also defined it as the consistency of attitudes, policies and behaviors that are combined in an organization or system to operate in cross-cultural environments (Welch, 1997). The advantages of financially subsidizing efforts to create a more culturally competent healthcare system revolve around its effects. First, cultural competence in the healthcare sector is seen as one of the strategies that would be effective in enhancing healthcare provision especially among the racial minorities. As stated, a large part of the healthcare infrastructure in the United States was developed before the civil rights era, in which case it propagated institutionalized prejudice against minorities (Welch,