How Can a Multicultural Care Team Benefit Seniors?

In top companies across the globe—ranging from those specializing in assisted living to law, science, and engineering—diversity and multiculturalism are the buzzwords. Diversity brings big benefits, both to companies and their clients. For instance, organizations with above-average gender diversity outperform companies with below-average diversity by 46%-58%. It is easy to see how having a more diverse team can impact the quality of care you receive. Whether you live in an assisted living community or you contract the services of a carer to help you at home, you can reap many direct and indirect benefits from a team with different experiences, backgrounds, and cultures.

Greater Understanding

People from different ethnic backgrounds have preferences and needs that can best be understood and catered to by professionals who themselves belong to a diverse team. Although assistive living is not a purely medical model of care, most services provide some degree of health care—including medication management and emergency first aid. Currently, although racial and ethnic minorities make up a little over a quarter of the total population in the US, only 6% of health professionals are of African-American, Latino, or Native American descent. Meanwhile, studies indicate that students trained at diverse schools are more comfortable helping patients from a wide array of ethnic backgrounds. Patients report higher levels of satisfaction and trust when the person caring for them is from the same background.

Problem-Solving

If your care team comes from a diverse range of backgrounds, they are more likely to be able to solve any issues that arise with respect to care. This is because the broader a care team’s pool of talent is, the more that they can approach challenges from a variety of perspectives, sharing their experiences, traditions, and observations to come to a useful consensus. Problems don’t always have an easy, textbook solution. It often takes brainstorming, trying things out, and listening to others to consider solutions one may not have thought of alone.

Learning About the World

If travel has always been your favorite hobby, then meeting people from other cultures is a great way to learn more about the sites, traditions, history, and food from places you may have always wanted to travel to. One of the buzzwords in work tourism is travel nursing, in which registered nurses travel to various areas on a temporary basis, especially when demand is great. In this sense, travel benefits you in two ways: it provides you with instant help when it is most needed and enables you to get to know people from other states across the US or even from abroad. Thus, you may have the opportunity to exchange cultural information as well as practice speaking in another language.

Improved Communication

If your first language isn’t English, it can be frustrating when you cannot quite express what you need in this language. Having a diverse team with at least one or two people that speak your language can lift a huge weight off your shoulders. Research shows that patients with limited English proficiency can be particularly vulnerable to receiving a lower quality of care. This is because they may not be able to describe their symptoms, diagnoses or treatments to the extent required. Confusion can arise and the result can be the prescription of erroneous medication or treatment.

Being Cared for by a Happy Team

For staff in the care and other industries, being part of a safe, nurturing environment can lead them to feel happier at work. This makes sense considering the fact that employees from historically oppressed communities can feel unmotivated to make valid contributions unless they feel their opinions will be respected and appreciated. By promoting diversity, a care group can encourage acceptance and mutual respect. Staff in diverse teams have better employee relationships, which in turn leads to better client insight and the formulation of new processes that benefit teams and clients alike. Improved happiness boosts productivity by 20%. All this adds up to better service and smiles all-round and being on the receiving end of positive points of view can only make you happier as a client.

Study after study has shown that diversity creates better, happier teams and more productive organizations. People from different cultural and ethnic backgrounds can contribute an array of individual talents which, together, can benefit people receiving care. Diverse teams can increase the number of languages being spoken but also think of creative solutions to problems that arise. These teams are also happier since they work within a culture that keeps them safe and ensures their point of view is taken onboard. They can also reduce healthcare and disparities that can arise when clients or patients are not native English speakers. For instance, the number of misdiagnoses can be reduced and the correct treatment can be prescribed from the outset.