1. Running head: CULTURAL EMPOWERMENT 1
Cultural Empowerment: Case Story of a Day in the Sleep Clinic
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2. CULTURAL EMPOWERMENT 2
Cultural competence is a very critical capability that allows physicians to be able to
effectively offer better ultimate health outcome. Moreover, the concept of cultural
competence focuses on various factors affecting the way in which patients from other
cultures approach as well as experience healthcare. This includes health beliefs, cultural
norms, and social factors. Hence it is always necessary to ensure that physicians and nurses
devise ways on how to work best with patients from differing cultures and beliefs (Core
Concepts in Cultural Competence, 2012).
For example, considering the Sleep Clinic Case Story it is undoubtedly evident that
there are various aspects of Dr. William’s behavior which has tremendously influenced the
decisions of the three families that visited him thereby affecting the health outcomes of their
children health. This is evident from the way Dr. William treats the three families where only
one family can be regarded as content with how he handled their problem. However, among
the white American family, Sudanese family and Vietnamese family only the first one is
satisfied with the services offered by the doctor while the latter two are totally dissatisfied
because of the assumptions made by Dr. William.
In the first case Dr. William seems comfortable and ends up prescribing the best
medical prescription for Johnny. This is attributable to the fact that he shares an interest about
horses with Becki, Johnny’s mother. In addition to the family being whites it also seem to
have a good insurance which makes the doctor to believe they will afford effective treatment
for their child. This makes him to prescribe CPAP for Johnny’s obstructive sleep apnea
(OSA) a medical prescription which will require up to a month’s follow up.
However, Dr. William seems to make an assumption about the origin of the Waleed
family who are Sudanese but he thinks they are African American. This made him to
overlook the stress which the Waleeds may have gone through in Sudan before migrating to

3. CULTURAL EMPOWERMENT 3
the US thereby turning them away because they do not have insurance. This behavior will
have far reaching ultimate health outcome on the Waleeds child. In addition, he seemed to
totally not understand the culture of Vietnamese which made him to totally do the contrary of
the Phan’s family expectations (Core Concepts in Cultural Competence, 2012).
Race, ethnicity, culture and socioeconomic status play an essential role in the
healthcare system experiences among families. For instance, from the case study it is evident
that by the virtue of the Reese family being white Americans they received the best ever
experience in the Sleep Clinic compared the other two families, the Sudanese and Vietnamese
respectively. This is attributed to there difference in race, culture, ethnicity and
socioeconomic status (Maternal Child Health Bureau, 2009). The white American family are
socioeconomically well up which made them to afford a good insurance hence good
experience with the healthcare system. The Waleed and Phan family are turned away because
of the poor socioeconomic status and different culture respectively.
Additionally, other than provider-patient communication, there are other factors that
influence health outcomes disparities. These factors include: cultural diversity, families’
health literacy and the assumptions or perceptions/attitudes of the doctor (US Department of
Health & Human Services, 2012). These factors are critical in influencing disparities in
healthcare outcomes. This is mainly because they usually determines how the doctor
perceives them as well as whether they will be able to afford their medical bills by
considering the health insurance they have if not covered by Medicare or Medicaid.

4. CULTURAL EMPOWERMENT 4
References
Core Concepts in Cultural Competence, (2012). Retrieved May 29, 2012 from
http://support.mchtraining.net/national_ccce/case0/home.html
Maternal Child Health Bureau [MCHB], (2009). Retrieved May 29, 2012 from
http://www.hrsa.gov/about/organization/bureaus/mchb/
US Department of Health & Human Services [USDHHS], (2012). Retrieved May 29, 2012
from http://www.hhs.gov/children/index.html