Cultural Competence in Medical Social Work
Cultural competence necessitates social workers to carefully look at their cultural backgrounds and original identities to increase levels of self-awareness. This awareness seeks to deal with cases of biased assumptions, stereotypes, and any other kind of assumptions based on communal values (Allen, 2018). In the process of offering medical services in different hospitals, social workers interact with many people from diverse cultural backgrounds and ethnicities. Not only is cultural competence essential in the social work industry, but it also creates a form of awareness that is vital to the implementation of ethical standards and related disciplines. While the community may regard culture as the only domain for sociologists, cultural competence is a crucial mandate for every social worker.
The main cultural competency issue in our discussion is Hermione’s first encounter with a Jehovah’s Witness patient. Madame Hooch believes that receiving a blood transfusion is unreligious and a heinous offense in the eyes of the lord. Hermione is a diligent social worker who should address both madame Hooch and Dr. Dumbledore politely. Since Hermione has already completed an assessment on Madame Hooch, she should go ahead and explain to her the need to be treated in the best medical way possible. On the other hand, Hermione should engage Dr. Dumbledore on the presence of marginalized communities such as the Jehovah’s Witness group. According to Wentworth (2019), an experienced social worker like Hermione should come up with the right avenues to offer help and relief to both Dr. Dumbledore and Madame Hooch.
In the scenario where the patient is a minor, Hermione should involve both parents to win their trust in effective medical procedures. The best way to perform foundational acts is by taking immediate action (Wentworth, 2019). To make sure Hermione is culturally competent to navigate this situation, she should ask herself, will my actions have an impactful change in these people’s lives? Hermione should consider using biblical knowledge to win over Madame Hooch’s trust. All in all, my assessment of Dr. Dumbledore’s communication with Madame Hooch is irrational and premature. As Allen (2018) states, all doctors, such as Dr. Dumbledore should understand all his patients despite them being from different cultural backgrounds. By doing so, cultural competence will not only be a norm of social workers but the whole medical fraternity.
References
Allen, M. (2018). Cultural Competence in Healthcare Social Work.
Wentworth, E. (2019). Standards and Indicators for Cultural Competence in Social Work Practice. 1st edition. 57(2), 47-50.