1. What is cultural competence and why is it important to health and wellbeing?
Cultural competence is an ongoing process in which nurses and healthcare members use a set of skills to enable them to be aware and acknowledge differences in cultures and be respectful towards them. Culture influences how health care providers and patients perceive illness. Competence as knowledge and conviction which leads to capacity for action. Cultural competency is a journey of learning, not a destination. (Campinha-Bacote 2007) cultural competency for nurses it is the ongoing process in which they continuously strive daily to work towards and achieve the ability to work effectively within the cultural context of the patient Which is so crucial in today’s society as Globalization has increased the interaction between people worldwide. (Ju et al. 2013) Describes globalization as more people with various cultural backgrounds who have arising problems such as lifestyle changes and adjustment of their health management. An example of this in healthcare is the Muslim community. There is over 80,000 at the moment in Scotland, Muslim culture is very diverse, and nurses are usually the first point of contact in regards health care. (Rassool 2014) Caring for the wellbeing of Muslim patients is an ongoing challenge for healthcare members. The diversity of the cultural and ethnic and linguistic groups means that they all perceive different views of health and illness, in the NMC it states that it is essential to avoid making assumptions and recognise diversity, to communicate clearly to the patients using a range of verbal and non-verbal communication methods and to avoid using jargon. These guidelines are in place to help with the delivery of care to patients who are culturally sensitive.
2. Identify a current global healthcare challenge and discuss the impact of relevant factors on health and wellbeing.
A global healthcare challenge comes about from the World Health Organisation (WHO) “who Maintains data and statistics on the most pressing global health concerns, and releases an annual world health report.”A current global healthcare challenge that has rapidly increases in the last few decades in Noncommunicable Diseases also known as (NCDs).According to (WHO 2017) NCDs Are commonly understood to be chronic diseases that are a result of genetic makeup , physiological environmental and health factors that are not communicable, meaning you can’t catch them from another person .Noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) are now the world’s biggest killers,yet only 1% of global funding goes towards preventing these outbreaks of diseases.The most common types of NCDs globally are Cancer, Cardiovascular disease, Diabetes ,Chronic Respiratory diseases like COPD and many more. NCDs take the lives of up to 40 million people each year accounting for more than 70 percent of deaths globally. Over half of the deaths are premature deaths that occur in low to middle income countries eg Africa and India.Cardiovascular diseases leads in the most deaths from NCDs following by cancer and respiratory disease. Children Adults and Elderly are all susceptible targets to these NCDs factors stem from there environmental surroundings ,These diseases are rapidly increasing one of the causes is unplanned urbanisation which is linked to poverty as the resources for a healthy lifestyle are not accessible causing people to get sicker as they are more vulnerable to harmful substances such as tobacco and alcohol, a lack of physical activity and an unhealthy diet and lifestyle leads to increased blood pressure, and obesity, which are know as metabolic risks factors that can lead to NCDs. tobacco and alcohol combined account for more than 10.5 million deaths a year , they are the leading causes of cancer worldwide. Overuse and abuse of these substances decreases life expectancy and reduce wellbeing leading to an unhealthy lifestyle and lack of physical activity over 1.6 million deaths annually can be attributed to insufficient physical activity. According to (WHO 2011).Over 210 million people worldwide have COPD which is chronic obstructive pulmonary disease ,majority of these deaths occur in low to middle class countries like the majority of NCDs ,it accounts for 5% of deaths in the globe annually.It is estimated that around 300 million people in the globe have diabetes and it is expected to rise,diabetes is a key contributory cause in other forms of morbidity and mortality.Socioeconomic impacts of NCDs cause countries in poverty to be socially disadvantaged as healthcare costs are very high and drain all of their money resources causing them to get sicker quicker and to die sooner because they are a greater risk of being exposed to harmful substances like alcohol tobacco and have limited access to health services., this is one of the key factors and causes of premature death by NCDs.The 2030 agenda for sustainable development goal is to reduce the NMC deaths by over a third.According to (WHO)“The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development adopted at the United Nations Summit on Sustainable Development in September 2015, recognises noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) as a major challenge for sustainable development. NCDs were not addressed in the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).” The goals agreed were to reduce premature mortality of NCDs by a third, reduce accessibility of alcohol, implement the WHO framework convention on tobacco control , provide access to affordable healthcare and essential medicines and vaccines for NCDs.
3. Choose an international organization and outline the importance of a current policy or strategy that might help address these needs.
The international organisation that is the most relevant to the healthcare challenge is The World Health Organisation(WHO), alongside The NCD Alliance. (WHO) work all over the world with 195 states to help achieve better health for everyone. there main goal is to “to combat diseases – communicable diseases like influenza and HIV, and noncommunicable diseases like cancer and heart disease”(Who.int 2018). (WHO 2018) finds health systems as the priority on their agenda for change. they work alongside the public and private sector of countries to develop and execute healthcare that is accessible to all classes of people the facilities are safe and fit for purpose and to educate people about their health and wellbeing,they focus on NCDs as it is the number one killer worldwide , collectively heart coronary disease respiratory disease diabetes cancer account for 70% of deaths worldwide. The (WHO) play a key role in helping stop(NCDS) worldwide as Millennium Development Goals failed to mention these as part of there global campaign to improve sustainable development,they are a serious threat to achieving the development goals. As part of the 2030 sustainable development goals state and government are committed to implement the following ,According to (World Health Organization, 2015) “ Reduce by one third premature mortality from NCDs,Strengthen responses to reduce the harmful use of alcohol,Achieve universal health coverage (UHC),Strengthen the implementation of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC),Support the research and development of vaccines and medicines for NCDs that primarily affect developing countries ,Provide access to affordable essential medicines and vaccines for NCDs”.The progress on these countries is being monitored by (World Health Organization, 2018)”The World Health Organization’s new Noncommunicable Disease Progress Monitor tracks the extent to which 194 countries are implementing their commitments to develop national responses to the global burden of NCDs.The Monitor provides a snapshot of some of the achievements and challenges faced by both developed and developing countries as they strive to reach globally agreed targets to combat cancer, diabetes, and heart and lung disease.” A partner organisation with WHO is The NCD Alliance. There mission is to (Ncdalliance.org,2018) “unite and strengthen our civil society network to stimulate collaborative advocacy, action and accountability for NCD prevention and control. Founded in 2009, we are a unique civil society network uniting 2,000 civil society organisations in more than 170 countries” (Ncdalliance.org,2018) the centre of the organisation is based upon the four pillars which include Advocacy to maintain momentum within government for NCDs. Accountability for prevention and control of NCDs.Capacity development strengthen this at national levels,and knowledge exchange continued education on the policies and practice of NCD control . These four strategic pillars are for improvement aimed between the years of 2016-2020. The vision of the Alliance is for people with NCD (Ncdalliance.org, 2018) To be able to “live full and healthy lives, free from stigma and discrimination and preventable disability and death.”The long-term goals of the NCD Alliance like WHO is to reduce premature mortality by 25 percent by 2025 and to continue to reduce it over time.