Mechanisms Driving Postgraduate Health and Social Science Students' Cultural Competence: An Integrated Systematic Review.

PURPOSE: The COVID-19 pandemic revealed a global urgency to address health care provision disparities, which have largely been influenced by systematic racism in federal and state policies. The World Health Organization recommends educational institutions train clinicians in cultural competence (CC); however, the mechanisms and interacting social structures that influence individuals to achieve CC have received little attention. This review investigates how postgraduate health and social science education approaches CC and how it accomplishes (or not) its goals. METHOD: The authors used critical realism and Whittemore and Knafl's methods to conduct a systematic integrated review. Seven databases (MEDLINE, CINAHL, PsycINFO, Scopus, PubMed, Web of Science, and ERIC) were searched from 2000 to 2020 for original research studies. Inclusion criteria were: the use of the term "cultural competence" and/or any one of Campinha-Bacote's 5 CC factors, being about postgraduate health and/or social science students, and being about a postgraduate curriculum or a component of it. Thematic analysis was used to reveal the mechanisms and interacting social structures underlying CC. RESULTS: Thirty-two studies were included and 2 approaches to CC (themes) were identified. The first theme was professionalized pedagogy, which had 2 subthemes: othering and labeling. The second theme was becoming culturally competent, which had 2 subthemes: a safe CC teaching environment and social interactions that cultivate reflexivity. CONCLUSIONS: CC conceptualizations in postgraduate health and social science education tend to view cultural differences as a problem and CC skills as a way to mitigate differences to enhance patient care. However, this generates a focus on the other, rather than a focus on the self. Future research should explore the extent to which insight, cognitive flexibility, and reflexivity, taught in safe teaching environments, are associated with increasing students' cultural safety, cultural humility, and CC.

Implications of COVID-19 on the Loneliness of Older Adults in Residential Care Homes.

With little understandings on the loneliness of older adults in residential care homes structured by social contact restrictions, the provision of person-centered care was jeopardized during the pandemic. This study employed hermeneutic phenomenology to explore the lived experiences of loneliness of this population during a 5-month period of the COVID-19 pandemic. We conducted unstructured face-to-face interviews with 15 older adults living in seven residential care homes. Thematic analysis was guided by Van Manen's approach. The essence of loneliness was uncovered as "A deprived sense of self-significance in a familiar world contributes to older adult's disconnection with prior commitments." A sub-theme "From collapse to dissolution of self-understanding" revealed how COVID-19 structured their loneliness. Another sub-theme, "Restoring meanings by establishing connections with entities" illustrated the ways to mitigate loneliness during the pandemic. Activities fostering alternative self-interpretation are important to protect older adults against loneliness.

Resilience of Emerging Adults After Adverse Childhood Experiences: A Qualitative Systematic Review.

INTRODUCTION: Even as children experience adversity, they can become resilient adults, in large part due to their social supports as emerging adults. OBJECTIVE: Authors examine constructs of social support applied to the concept of resilience among emerging adults having experienced adverse childhood experiences (ACE). METHOD: Authors conducted a meta-ethnography with six databases between January 1998 and October 2019. Inclusion criteria were as follows: (i) original peer-reviewed qualitative or mixed-method studies, (ii) sampling adults aged 18-35 years, (iii) reporting at least one ACE as defined by the World Health Organization, (iv) focused on resilience, and (v) in English. Data were collected from six electronic databases (MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, PsychINFO, Web of Science, and Google Scholar). Studies were appraised using the Critical Appraisal Skills Program Qualitative Checklist. Analysis drew on Bourdieu's constructs of capital following Noblit and Hare's methods. RESULTS: Thirteen studies of 277 emerging adults, aged 18-35 years old (mean 23 years), from six countries, reported resilience as "self-righting" appraisals. These were interdependent of their social supports and within a culturally determined sense of self-reliance. Self-reliance appeared to be a precursor shaping resilience of emerging adults with ACE. Self-reliance may deter self-compassion and, as a self-righting appraisal/capacity, may inhibit accessing social support. CONCLUSION: This review emphasizes the life stage of emerging adulthood regarding the development of self-righting appraisal skills, which, when enabled with reliance, others help to transform ACEs and allow resilience to grow.

Advancing pedagogy of undergraduate nursing students' cultural awareness through internationalization webinars: A qualitative study.

In today's world, nurses increasingly care for individuals from different cultures. Because culturally sensitive care can improve patient satisfaction in care, nurses need to develop cultural competence in their practice. To develop cultural competence, one option is to build cultural awareness by exposing students to nursing practices in other cultures through online internationalization-at-home activities. However, little is known about the process of cultural awareness development through internationalization activities. Therefore, this qualitative study aimed to identify the development process of cultural awareness in nursing students, who participated in a series of internationalization-at-home activities. A total of 31 nursing students from Australia, Hong Kong, and Sweden volunteered to participate in student-led learning groups. Groups consisted of two to four students from each university, who engaged in four weekly webinars and online reflections about nursing practice based on a case scenario. Data were collected from participants' ongoing reflective journal entries, and after the webinars ended, from three focus groups. A semi-structured interview guide was used to understand how the internationalization-at-home activities impacted their cultural awareness and knowledge of nursing. Data were analyzed using interpretive description. Following four levels of thematic analysis (i.e., comprehension, synthesis, theorizing, reconceptualization), we identified four themes in the development of cultural awareness: 1) nurturing reciprocity through comparisons of nursing culture; 2) discovering common ethical values of the nursing profession; 3) developing cultural awareness in nursing ideology and practice; and 4) transforming understanding of nursing in the context of their healthcare systems. By the end of the internationalization activities, students appeared to have developed relational skills to facilitate their own inner dialogue about ethical ideals of "self" and "other" in the context of being part of the global nursing community. Future research should develop and assess teaching strategies that can further facilitate the four themes in cultural awareness development.

"I Sometimes Ask Patients to Consider Spiritual Care": Health Literacy and Culture in Mental Health Nursing Practice.

While health literacy influences better outcomes of mental health patients, sociocultural factors shape the nature of the relationship. On this matter, little is known about how sociocultural factors affect health literacy practices of nurses, especially in low-income countries. This paper examines how local precepts, within culture and language, shape mental health nurses' (MHNs) practice and understanding of patients' health literacy level in Ghana. The study used a qualitative descriptive design involving 43 MHNs from two psychiatric hospitals. Conventional content analysis was used to analyze the data. Although the MHNs acknowledged the importance of health literacy associated with patients' health outcomes, their practice was strongly attributed to patients' substantial reliance on cultural practices and beliefs that led to misinterpretation and non- compliance to treatments. MHNs shared similar sociocultural ideas with patients and admitted that these directed their health literacy practice. Additionally, numerous health system barriers influenced the adoption of health literacy screening tools, as well as the MHNs' low health literacy skills. These findings suggest MHNs' direct attention to the broader social determinants of health to enhance the understanding of culture and its impact on health literacy practice.