Culturally Competent Mental Health Care

DEFINITION

• When discussing cultural competence, it is important to first define what "culture" is. According to the DSM-5, culture refers to systems of knowledge, concepts, rules, and practices that are learned and transmitted across generations.[1] Culture includes language, religion and spirituality, family structures, life-cycle stages, ceremonial rituals, and customs, as well as moral and legal systems. Cultures are open, dynamic systems that undergo continuous change over time. In the contemporary world, most individuals and groups are exposed to multiple cultures, which they use to fashion their own identities and make sense of experience.
• Cultural competence is the ability of clinicians to provide effective care across cultural differences by recognizing how social and cultural factors shape health, illness, and treatment. It involves awareness of one’s own values and biases, respect for diverse worldviews, knowledge of cultural practices and health beliefs, and the skills to adapt care accordingly. Importantly, cultural competence is not a fixed skill but an ongoing process of learning, self-reflection, and adaptation in partnership with patients.[1][2]
• "Cultural humility" or "cultural safety" are parallel terms increasingly embraced in the literature.