Introduction
The United States of America is a multi-cultural society housing almost every culture present in the world. Healthcare professionals serve the high number of diverse patient populations. The presence of numerous cultures requires the government to promote cultural competence in all public and private sectors to accommodate people from different cultural backgrounds. Cultural competence refers to the ability of a professional, an organization, or an agency to establish behaviors, policies, and attitudes that work effectively across all cultures. The healthcare sector has a lot of responsibility in promoting cultural competence among multicultural groups found in the US. However, studies show a lack of cultural dimensions that establish a nurse-patient relationship among the American healthcare professionals. These professionals need more skills and knowledge on how to promote a culturally competent care to avoid healthcare disparities, allow equal access to healthcare, and ensure culturally diverse populations enjoy quality health. Non-Americans take the high percentage of the African American population in the U.S. The following paper discusses cultural competent care for Nigerians living in America.
The analysis of Nigerian population in USA and healthcare delivery
The U.S. offers an integrated world economy; hence, the best destination for most travelers from both developed and developing countries. Approximately 4 million black immigrants currently live in the United States. The number almost tripled compared to the population recorded one decade ago. Black immigrants account for approximately 9 percent of the total black population in the U.S. The population of black immigrants to the U.S. keeps on rising and experts forecast about 17 percent of American blacks will be immigrants by the year 2060 (Anderson, 2015). According to Anderson (2015), Nigeria accounts for the largest number of black immigrants in the U.S., with the population of almost 300, 000 people. Nigeria is a developing country from West Africa with the highest number of people migrating to the United States. The increasing number of Nigerian immigrants in the U.S. raises concern over the mode of access to healthcare services among these populations. Has the U.S. healthcare sector established measures that promote culturally competent care among diverse groups?
Access to safe, quality, and affordable care among black immigrants living in the U.S. has been a challenge because of racial and ethnic disparities that continue to slow down the American Health Care sector. The U.S. healthcare sector should address clear and unmet needs of diverse populations, especially Africans, to reduce risks and prevalence of chronic diseases such as hypertension, coronary artery disease, cancer, and diabetes (Venters and Gany, 2011). Many Nigerians living in the U.S. are at higher risks of acquiring infectious diseases because of the lack of appropriate measures to address healthy behaviors among cross-cultural groups. Cultural competence care helps in dealing with these and many health problems affecting Nigerian population living in U.S.
The significance of establishing a culturally competent care among diverse populations (A case of Nigerians in America)
The access to quality, safe, and affordable care across multicultural groups in the U.S. is an issue of great concern among health stakeholders. Cultural competence acts as the key to high-quality patient-centered care that directly influences the mode of care delivery to diverse populations. A cultural competence care respects diversity in different patient populations and reduces biased quality care. The U.S. health care sector aims at creating a conceptual clarity in the healthcare delivery and studies involving foreign communities living in the area like Nigerians. However, healthcare experts providing care at different settings including organizational level, community level, and the group level fails to understand the meaning of culturally competent care.
The increasing number of foreign immigrants into the U.S. from different parts of the world calls upon the U.S. healthcare sector to educate care providers about cultural competence to help minimize health disparities in the future. Cultural awareness, competence behaviors, and sensitivity are necessary tools needed for addressing the issue of cultural competence care among Nigerian immigrants living in the U.S. Creating a healthcare workforce that promotes culturally competent care creates a working environment where every person is mindful of the wellbeing of another irrespective of his or her culture or race. A culturally competent health care workforce understands cultural customs and norms of the opposite culture that allow them to deliver quality care and avoid instances of misunderstanding between the hospital staff, the patient, and the family or friends of the patient. According to Dauvrin and Lorant (2015), cultural competence of healthcare leaders influences the cultural competence of the staff always significant in two major domains of cultural competence, paradigm, and mediation.
Strategies to improve cultural competent care for the Nigerians living in U.S
The only way that the U.S. government can ensure it improves healthcare provision to racial and ethnic minorities living in the country, like Nigerians, is through the creation of a cultural competency in care. U.S. healthcare sector still experiences instances of racial and ethnic health disparities despite the efforts by the government to reform the healthcare sector. However, the presence of effective interventions aimed at improving cultural competency plays a critical role in ensuring Nigerians living in America get access to quality, affordable, and safe care. Truong, Paradies, and Priest (2014) conducted a study to establish interventions to improve cultural competency in health care among racial/ethnic minorities. The study analyzed different interventions based on the provider outcome, patient related outcomes, and healthcare outcomes.
The study established a big relationship between the provider outcome and skills, knowledge, and attitudes related to cultural competency. Health providers influence the outcome of patients, and the more experienced a provider is with cultural values and norms of the opposite culture, the high the rate of patient outcome. The government should take it as an annual responsibility to take healthcare providers through cultural competency lessons to equip them with skills, knowledge, and change their attitude towards Nigerian patient residing in America.
On the other hand, interventions aimed at improving the outcome of the healthcare organization plays a big role in improving cultural competent care for Nigerians living in America. The government should develop strategies that promote cultural competence at the organizational level. According to the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (US) (2014), the organization develops policies, behaviors, and attitudes that guide the staff, the agency, and other professionals associated with the organization towards promoting a culturally competent workplace environment. Moreover, the organization should consider reviewing and updating its vision, mission, and value statements to focus on responsive cultural behaviors among health service providers.
Additionally, the government should consider recruiting a member of the community into the organization staff to help guide others towards understanding the culture of Nigerians seeking medical attention. Having employee's culture similar to the patient's increases the patient's trust with the health care delivery, and encourages them to share more with other members of the staff from a different culture and region. Three major elements assist in achieving cultural competence in care. These are cultural targeting, meeting underserved needs, and patient-centered care (Agency for Health Research and Quality, 2014). Employing healthcare professionals from Nigeria would help overlap all three needs in a single move. A nurse from Nigeria will easily understand the needs of patients from his or her culture and advice other staff members on how to address such needs. The move helps improve cultural competency by making the organization address under-served needs. On the other hand, a physician from the Nigerian culture has high capacities of promoting health literacy because both the patient and the provider use the same language. The process promotes effective communication between the staff and patients creating a patient-centered care.
Conclusion
Achieving a culturally competent care for a minority population in a country may seem a challenging process. However, the implementation of effective strategies and the knowledge of factors influencing a culturally competent care help overcome such challenges and assist the foreign community access quality and safe care. The Nigerian population holds the biggest percentage of African-American immigrants in the U.S.A. The government should make access to health care of this population a priority by implementing programs that promote cultural competency among healthcare professionals and stakeholders. The discussion proposed strategies such as training the staff about cultural competency, ensuring healthcare organizations across the country change their vision, mission, and value statements to focus on culturally competent care. Finally, the government should consider hiring a small percentage of Nigerians to work with healthcare organizations to help improve cultural competency for the Nigerian population in U.S.A.
References
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