Basic Competencies in Working with CALD Communities in a Mental Health and Addiction Context

The following key topics are covered:

Introduction

• Cultural competence and safety
• Importance of cultural competence
• Health equity
• Ethnic groups in NZ
• About the diverse Asian communities
• About the diverse Refugee communities

Cultural awareness

• Importance of cultural awareness
• Recognising cultural differences
• Understanding cultural values
• Comparison of cultural values
• Being aware of own values

Sensitivity

• What is cultural sensitivity?
• Biases and prejudices
• Identifying biases
• Knowing your ethnocentrism level
• Sensitivity in practice

Knowledge

• Role of cultural knowledge
• Acculturation
• Intergenerational conflicts
• Issues requiring sensitive exploring
• Application in practice

Skills

• Checklist for engagement
• Cross-cultural meta-skills
• Application of skills in practice

At the end of the module, you should be able to:

• understand the importance of cultural competence and what is required to achieve culturally safe and equity outcomes for CALD communities in a mental health and addiction context
• be familiar with some demographic data of major ethnic groups in New Zealand, including information about migrant and refugee communities from Asian, Middle Eastern, Latin American, African and European countries
• be able to recognise cultural differences and know how to apply awareness in practice
• be able to recognise bias and know how to apply sensitivity in practice
• understand ways to approach and explore cultural-specific knowledge, acculturation, intergenerational and other issues requiring sensitive exploring
• gain approaches in culturally competent practice.

This programme is recommended for the mental health and addiction workforce working in hospitals, specialist services, primary care, and non-governmental organisations.