Page 182 - Cultural Competence in Health Education

160 Cultural Competence in Health Education and Health Promotion

care services and that these clients require the development of culturally sensitive health
education programs to infl uence their knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors. It is impera-
tive that health educators demonstrate through their communication skills that they
respect and value cultural diversity and encourage others to do so as well, while also
observing unobtrusively clients ’ verbal and nonverbal behaviors and cues. Such behav-
iors and cues may be obstacles to effective communication.
Furthermore, it is crucial for health educators to exemplify how health care provid-
ers in general are supposed to communicate with different clients, demonstrating how
to interact with minority clients in order to give them adequate care and how to encour-
age clients to actively participate in making decisions concerning their health care.
Culture - specific and sensitivity training will assist health educators to become

more flexible in inferring motives or attributing meanings to other people ’ s behavior,
thereby increasing their communication effectiveness and cultural competence. They
must continually advocate for effective cross - cultural communication and remember
to focus on the important elements of communication, cultural sensitivity, marketing
techniques, and language barriers as they carry out their roles and functions in their
various practice environments.

POINTS TO REMEMBER

■ Health educators should always be willing to analyze and select effective communi-
cation channels that are likely to reach and infl uence the program participants, that
are sensitive to those participants ’ cultural underpinnings, and that use multicultural
message strategies that are appropriate and relevant to the cultural environment.

■ Health educators should institutionalize program goals and objectives within the
cultural milieu of the target audience and ensure that clear and realistic health pro-
gram objectives, incorporating input from the target audience, are set.
■ Health educators should practice the principles of the 4 Ps of marketing by estab-
lishing a clear set of available health program products (intervention activities and
media) that are also affordable given the target population ’ s economic situation
and acceptable costs ( price ) and that are packaged for the specifi c environment
( placement ). Health educators must also provide the target audience with informa-
tion about how, when, and where its members can access health care information
and programs ( promotion ).

■ Health educators must possess active listening and speaking skills so that they
will be able to remove impediments to effective communication.

CASE STUDY
Recently there was an outbreak of polio in the northern part of a West African country.
There was then a massive campaign for oral polio immunization in this northern com-
munity. This community has heterogeneous ethnic groups but one major religion.

7/1/08 2:55:25 PM
c08.indd 160 7/1/08 2:55:25 PM
c08.indd 160