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Cultural Competence and Health Education 59

are culturally competent ” (P é rez et al., 2006, p. 102). Specific personal skills are

needed to ensure client compliance and to exhibit the leadership expected of the health
educator. Fueled by cultural desire, strengthened by cultural awareness, and reinforced
by cultural sensitivity, health educators can develop the sensitivity, trust, and credibil-
ity that are pivotal for integrating cultural competence into the work of the profession
and its members. This effort can also bring about the trust, sensitivity, and connected-
ness needed for the target population ’ s participation in successful programs.

Sensitivity. When individuals value and respect their differences in personalities, atti-

tudes, beliefs, behaviors, and environments, they are said to be culturally sensitive.
These differences can be addressed in many training settings that will provide for
political correctness. In workshops, seminars, and other learning adventures, sensitiv-
ity experiences are used to bring about a sense of connectedness between the health
educator and the client in a working relationship. Often walking in another ’ s shoes,
open discussions, role playing and reverse role playing, and questions and responses

are used as reflective practices in order to share information, reveal inadequacies, and
examine myths and stereotypes. All these activities can bring about an honest exchange
that helps health educators to become sensitive to differences and to appreciate diversity
and sameness simultaneously. In minority settings the importance of health profession-
als ’ sensitivity often comes through when they are judged by how much they care rather
than how much they know. The knowledge base of the health professional is valued
only when it is obvious to the participant that that knowledge is relevant to the knowl-
edge that the participant ’ s cultural group already holds, needs, desires, or values.
Health educators, individually and collaboratively, can heighten their own and
others ’ awareness of and sensitivity to the importance of cultural diversity and cultural
competence in health care settings. The National Center for Cultural Competence
(NCCC) offers a self - assessment checklist that can be used by individuals, agencies, or
organizations. This thirty - item checklist identifies the frequency of specifi c behaviors

and practices in relation to physical environment, use of materials and resources, com-
munication styles, and values and attitudes. The NCCC also provides further guidance
in the planning and implementation of culturally competent principles and practices in
the workplace (Ahmann, 2002). Individual assessments promote cultural self - aware-
ness, a vital first step toward cultural sensitivity (Ponterotto, Casas, Suzuki, & Alexander,

1995). This perspective is consistent with the underlying philosophy of many multicul-
tural experiences for health educators, which emphasizes that counselors and educators
must understand themselves before they can expect to help or educate others. Being
comfortable with both one ’ s own and others ’ cultural groups indicates an advanced
developmental state of cultural awareness and competence.
Trust. Acquiring sensitivity to likenesses and differences between individuals, groups,

and communities leads to connectedness and eventually to a sense of trust that tran-
scends racial, age, gender, and economic differences. This transcending trust, accord-
ing to Thomas and Quinn (1993), may neutralize racial discordance between the health

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