ITIC MENA: Cultural differences in assistance and healthcare

ITIJ Article Link: https://www.itij.com/latest/news/itic-mena-cultural-differences-assistance-and-healthcare

Experts in cultural behaviour in the healthcare and assistance sectors shared their experiences and advice for companies operating in the sector, highlighting the importance of understanding and communication across cultural barriers

Cultural richness within an organisation is powerful and challenging, as trying to manage all these differences can be a difficult thing to do, said Dr Fatih. Fakeeh Care Group, for instance, has 47 nationalities among its staff members. Human resources are tasked with ensuring there is a diverse workforce in each department. Cultural differences are a strength that has to be carefully balanced.

“Culture difference is the mosaic of people who bring a variety of backgrounds, styles, perspectives, values and beliefs as assets to the groups and organizations with which they interact,” said Dr Fatih. “And patients have to trust the physician and nurse that are treating them. The issue is engagement, and staff have to be engaged with their patients and with each other.”

There are both visible and invisible aspects of cultural differences, both of which are equally important. While race, gender, age and language are the obvious aspects, less obvious ones can be religion, skills, education, background, personality, beliefs and values.

Dr Fatih then explained the social, health, and business benefits of becoming a culturally competent healthcare organisation. With the current lack of healthcare staff in certain counties – the UK, for instance, increasing cultural understanding is essential to a successful recruitment strategy. Socially, enhancement of cultural understanding among staff increases mutual respect and understanding between patients and the organisation; from a health benefits perspective, it improves data collection and reduces disparities in the patient population; while from a business point of view, it incorporates different perspectives, ideas and strategies into the decision making process, decreases barriers that slow progress, and moves companies further towards the goal of meeting legal and regulatory guidelines.

In order to become more culturally aware, healthcare organisations should perform community surveys, and engage more with their community, which will serve to educate their staff, said Dr Faith, who is speaking from experience when it comes to opening a new hospital in a different country. To tap into the talent market, and then the international patient market, organisations need to be inclusive for all religions – celebrate Diwali, Eid and Christmas, for instance, he suggested.

“If you create the organisational structure from the beginning that brings fair and equitable treatment to all staff, with respect from all sides for the staff, the staff members are empowered to treat patients with the same equity and respect,” pointed out Dr Fatih. Organisations that create loyalty will have a higher staff retention rate.

It is important that organisations respect the opinion of other team members, acknowledge cultural and generational differences, and historical injustices, without becoming defensive. “You must be open to learning about other cultures and ideas,” said Dr Fatih. “Give others the benefit of the doubt in a dispute, and seek first to understand other peoples’ points of view, then to be understood yourself.” Effective communication, he continued, comes when we don’t stereotype other people and don’t judge them by our own cultural standards. Dr Fatih concluded: “When we feel a sense of belonging it is not because we are the same as everyone else, but because we have been accepted as we are.”