Anthropology in the Clinic: The Problem of Cultural Competency and How to Fix It

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Year: 2006
Author(s): Kleinman, A and Benson, P.
Book/Journal: PLOS Medicine
Volume and Page Info: Vol. 3, No. 10, pp.292-294
Type: Journal
Topics:
Medical Professionalism and Cultural Safety
Publisher: PLOS Medicine
Abstract
Cultural competency has become a fashionable term for clinicians and researchers. Yet no one can defi ne this term precisely enough to operationalize it in clinical training and best practices. It is clear that culture does matter in the clinic. Cultural factors are crucial to diagnosis, treatment, and care. They shape health-related beliefs, behaviours, and values. But the large claims about the value of cultural competence for the art of professional care-giving around the world are simply not supported by robust evaluation research showing that systematic attention to culture really improves clinical services. This lack of evidence is a failure of outcome research to take culture seriously enough to routinely assess the cost-effectiveness of culturally informed therapeutic practices, not a lack of effort to introduce ulturally informed strategies into clinical settings.