CULTURAL COMPETENCE AND EVALUATING TRAINING 2
Cultural Competence and Evaluating Training
A significant step for physical therapists in preparing to acquire cultural competence
training is to establish or develop effective understanding and communication skills. The clinical
encounters of a physical therapist entail a high level of cultural diversity because a given culture
has unique primary and secondary characteristics that one cannot change. Having good
communication skills and interpersonal relation will enable the physical therapists to relate
efficiently with the African American, Cape Verdean, and the Hispanic. During the cultural
competence drill or training, the communication skills will assist the physical therapists to
resonate easily with the cultures of the clients or patients.
Proficient communication and interpersonal skills are vital for a physical therapy
professional as he will be able to treat the diverse community effectively. There are often high
chances of lack of understanding and miscommunication between the practitioners and the
clients because of cultural differences. A therapist who is unable to communicate well with the
clients due to lingual differences may not meet the wellness and health needs of the patient hence
providing an ineffective service (Panzarella & Matteliano, 2016). Therefore, the fundamental
step of a physical therapist is to have proper understanding and communication skills in
preparation for a cultural competence training.
Importantly, there exist additional steps that the trainer should take to acquire feedback
from the participants. To get feedback from the physical therapists, the trainer should establish
the whole objective of conducting the training. The instructor needs to describe the intention of
conducting the training. For instance, the objective of the study is to enable the practitioners to
understand the diverse cultures of the clients. The goal of understating the various cultures will
influence the participants to ask any question related to any culture that they do not understand.