I asked a number of friends if they would mind sharing stories
where they had either had a positive or negative experience with healthcare
professionals where cultural norms differed between themselves and the
practitioner they were seeing. The results were very interesting.
In some cases, they, as clients, were respected with regards to their
culture. In others, well, the results were not so great. I have altered the names of contributors, for confidentiality's sake. These are
the real stories of real people. As you watch the videos, try and think how you would feel
from the client's perspective, and how you think you would react if you met
this person when you were in the position of power as a practitioner. What
would you do if you saw or overheard a colleague behaving in these ways?
Amy's Story
George's Story
Karla's story
So that's the not-so good. The times when a lack of cross-cultural understanding led to poor intercultural communication. Now I'll share some examples that are much more positive.
Carol's Story
Henare's Story
These examples
are much closer to what we should be aiming for.
Wow, these examples are exactly what is needed to see both sides of this dilemma in context. I look forward to reading more...
ReplyDeleteAlthough I feel incredibly sorry for some of my friends in that they have experienced such poor treatment, I am very grateful that they shared these stories with me, and allowed me to share them with others. The anecdotes from both sides of the ledger certainly helped me put a real face to the victims of judgement, as well as providing a kind of watermark for me to aim towards when working with people who may differ substantially from myself culturally.
DeleteGreat work Megan, it is a timely reminder that we need to treat each client individually, and respect their wishes.. and have an increased awareness of how our own values can impact on the therapy we provide to others.
ReplyDeleteDefinitely, Rox. Sharing these experiences with my friends certainly gave me plenty of opportunity to reflect upon my own beliefs and attitudes regarding people who are significantly culturally different from myself, as well as the chance to reflect upon the nature of power in the therapeutic relationship.
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