Serving New and Diverse Patient Populations

Today’s diversity isn’t your grandparent’s or even your parent’s brand of diversity. Today, diversity encapsulates so many elements of difference than ever before, many that perhaps we don’t think about. Society is changing, not at a rapid pace, but a hyper-rapid pace. Decades ago, healthcare professionals cared for a mainly homogeneous group of people, mainly white people seeking care. But, population characteristics in the United States have been changing and continue to change.

What Are These New and Diverse Patient Populations?

Are you ready for a very long list of diverse patient populations that we are providing care for now and will so in the future? Remember, diversity means “different” and we certainly have patients, resident and clients that are coming from very diverse backgrounds with many, specific differences that come with special needs. Here we go:

• Minorities based on race, ethnicity, culture and religion
• Various groups of people with substance use or abuse problems
• Mental and behavioral illnesses and disorders
• Dually diagnosed patient or those with comorbidities
• The homeless
• People diagnosed with HIV and AIDS
• The LGBT population
• Bariatric patients
• Patients from urban, rural, suburban areas
• People of different ages, the young, middle aged and elderly
• Those diagnosed with a neurocognitive disorder like Alzheimer’s disease
• Battered women
• People who are victims of human trafficking
• Geriatric prisoners
• Severely mentally ill patients who are inappropriate for prison
• New immigrants
• The very low income population
• Illegal aliens (or undocumented citizens)
• Young people destroyed by opioids or heroin and need nursing home placement
• Sex offenders who need long term care

Well, I could go on, but I think you get the point. healthcare professionals must be objective and sensitive at the same time. We must treat all patients with the same quality of care and service, regardless of their diverse statuses. People are people, and it simply doesn’t matter. What does matter is that we never discriminate, act with bias, or mistreat anyone based on our own values and principles. Perhaps some healthcare professionals cannot provide care to a patient on this list because of their own religious or personal beliefs.

A Brief Review of Cultural Competence

In order to keep us on the right path, we can always fall back on what we have learned about being culturally sensitive and reviewing cultural competence. There are only 4 domains of cultural competence:

• Awareness of your own cultural worldview
• Attitudes towards cultural or other differences
• Knowledge of different cultural practices and worldviews
• Cross-cultural skills

This is pretty simple stuff, but easier said than done. We all have bias. We all think in stereotypical terms. It is human to do so. But, as healthcare professionals, we have to acknowledge that we do sometimes think in these ways and push those thoughts aside. We should think, act and practice objectively. We are not some “Joe Bag of Donuts” off the street – we are professionals.

Final Thoughts

Society is changing. The world is changing and getting a lot smaller. Travel and technology bring a lot of very different people together like never before and I don’t see this slowing down or changing. We could be rigid in our thinking or we could hold onto our values and principles and treat everyone as a human being should be treated, as we would want to be treated. The whole “Do Unto Others’ come to my mind as I end this article. You are different to someone else, as am I. What if a healthcare professional who is completely different from you and I one day care for us? What then? Remember the Golden Rule!

More About Cultural Competence

• Health Literacy: The Person-Centered Way
• Diversity in the Workplace