Cultural Sensitivity in Diversity Spectrum

My Controversial Thought-

Is it right for us to aim for DEIB in every situation? Sometimes, maybe, in a little different way.

Especially when we want some reassurance during a time of despair, to build trust.

The goals of seeking healthcare for the patients and families are-

1.??????Receiving safe treatment

2.??????Knowing that the facility provides the best quality care

3.??????The feeling of safety in the hands of the healthcare team, and

4.??????Feeling heard, and understood (verbal and non-verbal) with a sense of belonging.

When patients seek medical care, they trust the healthcare team and surrender their most vulnerable time, i.e., sickness, when their body is not mentally and physically capable of handling day-to-day life events. In those times, you wish somebody would just understand you without you having to explain the entire history of illness and the risk factors that you may have at your home, and close vicinity.

The impact of certain diseases, symptoms, and limitations caused by the illness is viewed differently in different cultures. For example, an allergic skin reaction might be a very disturbing situation for a little baby for first-time parents who come from a healthy family. They may seek immediate medical care worrying about their baby, would like to see the healthcare team who belong to their same race, where they feel at home, who understand the type of foods they feed their baby at home and how the family views this event and starts talking and exploring about all the possible allergic triggers that the baby might have encountered. This is a huge deal for that family, obviously.

Another scenario from the lens of the healthcare team is a simple case of diarrhea- if the provider does not know what kind of foods the family eats by default at home, the provider will not be able to recommend an effective plan for the management of diarrhea. In such cases, the provider, by all means, wanted to do the best for their patient but did not have any idea what they would be eating at home. And the funny thing is, although we talk about probiotics and increased fluids etc. if the family normally eats lots of vegetables every day, this fiber intake during diarrhea is not going to prove helpful. And the next thing you know, the kid is suffering from diarrhea for 2 weeks, and now we are looking for stool cultures, further roundabouts with PCPs, dehydration issues, IV fluids, ER visits, and hopefully not toward a GI specialist. This was just my simple effort to explain how important it is to be culturally sensitive while delivering care.

Furthermore, using non-verbal communication like gestures, eye contact, and distancing during communication, certain bedside manners are different in different cultures. Patients might express some methods of home remedies that they strongly believe in. Sometimes, the patient might just feel more sense of belongingness with certain healthcare team members from similar races or ethnicity. And for these families, to wish for a sense of security by seeking similarity is not a wrong desire.

If we have such diverse manpower and expertise we need to facilitate and encourage that belongingness in those circumstances. This way, we can fill the gap in understanding and delivering care with more meaningful human connection, although, this is not possible all time, and we do have to utilize language interpreters.

As long as DEIB is intended to meet the above four goals for our patients and families, I think we are not wrong to say that practicing cultural similarities or being more culturally sensitive can increase patient satisfaction in healthcare.