Ethical Decision-making and Cultural Competency.
In the contemporary medical world, the emphasis on institutionalizing a culturally competent care is on the increase. Also, a call for ethical decision-making is on current agenda of health. In essence, this discussion aims at establishing how cultural competency applies to ethical decision-making in health care delivery in the USA.
Primarily, ethical decision-making in health care delivery is dependent on cultural competency. That is the case given that with cultural consideration in healthcare facilitates the provision of equitable health care services to all citizens without looking at their cultural backgrounds. As such, with cultural competency, health care professionals deliver services just (free and fair) manner that will prevent health care disparities (Betancourt, Corbett, & Bondaryk, 2014). In essence, justice is an ethical principle that governs the medical decision. Clearly, this is proof of the link between ethical decision-making in healthcare delivery and cultural competency.
Additionally, through cultural competency, health care professionals can demonstrate the preservation of patient autonomy, which is another moral principle. According to Brown, Bekker, Davison, Koffman, and Schell, (2016) autonomy in health care delivery comes in the form of allowing the patient’s interests take precedence in health care decisions. Medical professionals uphold patient autonomy through respecting the patient’s culture, which is an aspect of cultural competency. Evidently, this instance depicts the relationship between cultural competency and ethical healthcare decisions.
In closure, with a culturally competent health care sector in place, ethical decision-making is inevitable. Such is the case given that equity and patient autonomy, which are ethical principles, are the ramifications associated with medical personnel committed to cultural competency. As such, going forward, health care systems must incorporate cultural competency programs for medical professionals that will equip them with this essential requirement for ethical healthcare delivery. However, failure to do so can only propagate unethical health care disparities, which are undesirable.
References
Betancourt, J., Corbett, J., & Bondaryk, M. (2014). Addressing Disparities and Achieving Equity. Chest, 145(1), 143-148. http://dx.doi.org/10.1378/chest.13-0634
Brown, E., Bekker, H., Davison, S., Koffman, J., & Schell, J. (2016). Supportive Care: Communication Strategies to Improve Cultural Competence in Shared Decision Making. Clinical Journal Of The American Society Of Nephrology, 11(10), 1902-1908. http://dx.doi.org/10.2215/cjn.13661215
