SAEM PULSE | NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 2022
DIVERSITY & INCLUSION
16
Beyond Competency: Striving for Cultural Safety in Latinx Health Equity By Moises Gallegos, MD, MPH and Edgardo Ordoñez, MD, MPH on behalf of the SAEM Academy for Diversity and Inclusion in Emergency Medicine As the push toward health equity and social justice continues to highlight opportunities for change in our health care systems, concepts of cultural competency, sensitivity, and inclusivity will make up many of the discussions. But what does it mean to achieve cultural competency? Surely, cultural competency has its critics, as one cannot expect that sporadic reading, lectures, or workshops can provide the knowledge, skills, and attitudes necessary to fully engage the various
cultural drivers of health that influence the disease course for our patients. The cultural diversity that exists in our country is too wide-ranging to ever truly grasp the intricacies of the impact that culture — comprising language, faith/ religion, customs, behaviors, attitudes, etc. — has on health. As described by Curtis et al., the pursuit of cultural competency may be better described and thought of as striving to provide safe and respectful care. Cultural safety calls on us to create safe spaces that
are responsive to our patients’ cultural, political, spiritual, and linguistic realities. The journey toward culturally safe, respectful, and inclusive care starts with awareness and develops through openness to learn about others. This article offers a glimpse of Hispanic and Latinx culture and highlights some key concepts and important considerations that demonstrate how eclectic communities that make up this cultural heritage are.
