Assignment: Cultural Immersion Experience

Assignment: Cultural Immersion Experience

Assignment: Cultural Immersion Experience

            Cultural competence is important for healthcare providers for them to provide high-quality care that is appropriate to the needs of their diverse populations. Healthcare providers can develop the competence they desire in caring for individuals from different ethnicities by immersing themselves in their cultural practices. Counselors, nurses, and physicians among other healthcare providers are responsible for advocating the creation of culturally-responsive healthcare environments. They should ensure that the care environments prioritize the feelings of safe, as understood from the client’s perspectives and the consideration of culture’s essentiality in promoting healing. Therefore, this essay explores the cultural impacts of an immersion activity that I participated last week.

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Description of the Event

            The event that I participated for the cultural immersion was the donation of food supplies to the homeless populations in my community. The activity entailed the provision of food, health assessment, and education for the population. The experience provided an opportunity to learn more about the experiences, needs, and challenges of this community. It also increased my understanding of the health issues and barriers they experience in accessing and utilizing their needed healthcare services. I chose this event because it exposed me to diverse cultural practices, values, and beliefs of the homeless in the community. It also exposed me to the existing barriers to healthcare for this population. I also learned about their mental health needs and challenged me to explore potential strategies that should be implemented to promote their health and wellbeing. The experience affected me emotionally. I was emphatic about the experiences of the homeless. I was saddened that most policies adopted at the state level have not addressed in entirety the needs of this population.

Impact on Cultural Competence in Counseling

            My experience with the homeless population influenced my cultural competence in counseling in some ways. First, I learned from the experience that understanding one’s cultural backgrounds, beliefs, and backgrounds is important for the delivery of culturally-competent counseling. As a counselor, I need to explore the effect of one’s culture on their uptake and utilization of healthcare services. The counseling should address potential issues such as stigma and preconceived beliefs that affect health and healthcare utilization for the diverse populations (Flynn et al., 2020). Besides, counselors should understand their values, beliefs, and practices and their potential effect on the care they offer to their patients.

            The experience with the homeless population also increased my understanding of the need for the involvement of diverse groups in developing and implementing culturally-appropriate practices. Health organizations exist to address the needs of diverse populations in their environments. As a result, their systems and processes should be responsive to the unique, diverse cultural values, beliefs, and practices of the populations they serve. The experience showed that most healthcare systems are not inclined to address the needs of the homeless and poor in our communities. In specific, the vulnerable populations are not involved in the development and implementation of culturally appropriate and responsive practices, programs, and treatment strategies utilized in health organizations (Brashear & Thomas, 2022). The consequence is the existence of a huge gap between what this population needs and what healthcare providers offer. Therefore, going forward, I would strive to incorporate the views, concerns, and diverse cultural practices of the vulnerable populations into my counseling and treatments to ensure cultural inclusivity, adaptation, and competence in my practice.

Impact on Cultural Humility

            The experience also influenced my cultural humility professionally. First, it strengthened my understanding of the need for counselors to maintain their interpersonal position, which is focused on other’s needs in counseling process. In this case, it strengthened my understanding of the importance of maintaining a stance that is oriented to the cultural aspects that are important to the clients and not us, the counselors. I learned from the experience that counselor’s cultural views, values, and practices can affect their understanding of others’ cultural experiences (Zhu et al., 2021). As a result, counselors should be open and accepting that their cultural experiences may affect the care given to their patients.

The experience also increased my understanding of the importance of respect, openness, and consideration on counseling. Accordingly, nurse counselors should respect their client’s cultural views, beliefs, and practices. They should implement strategies that align with their expectations and experiences. They should also be open to their clients’ suggestions on how to achieve optimum outcomes in the care process (Zhang et al., 2022). The consideration of these aspects ensures cultural humility and the delivery of client-centered counseling services that optimize care outcomes such as satisfaction, empowerment, and sustained change.

Impact on my Worldview

            My experience with the homeless population changed my worldview on discrimination and power. Initially, I considered power as influential in ensuring the adoption of policies that ensure equity for all. However, I learned that most powerful individuals do not implement policies that address the needs of the vulnerable but their priorities only. For example, despite the implementation of several policies in healthcare, few of them have addressed the actual needs of the homeless populations (Alexander et al., 2022). Therefore, I now believe that policy development in healthcare should incorporate the diverse views of the vulnerable in our communities. Their involvement will ensure the implementation of population-specific and appropriate policies that transform our communities. I also believe that the policies should ensure equitable access to and utilization of resources and opportunities in the community. The current healthcare system is skewed to address the needs of a few in the community (Weng & Clark, 2018). However, inclusive policies that ensure the disadvantaged such as the homeless and poor populations have equal access to resources should be adopted for the optimum health and wellbeing for all.

            The experience also affirmed my worldview on discrimination. I believe that discrimination entails the social isolation of people due to aspects such as race, ethnicity, age, socioeconomic status, and disability among others. Healthcare policies should be developed with the aim of ending discrimination of different populations based on their backgrounds (Mejia-Lancheros et al., 2020). The homeless and poor have a right to access high-quality care irrespective of their backgrounds. However, the current healthcare system discriminates against them due to issues such as their lack of medical insurance coverage and unaffordable quality care services. As a result, I believe that counselors and other healthcare providers have the professional responsibility of advocating the rights of these vulnerable populations (Neves-Silva et al., 2018). They should advocate the adoption of all-inclusive policies that ensure equitable access to healthcare and opportunities for all.

Infusion on my Counseling Work

            I will infuse social justice advocacy in my work as a counselor when assisting the homeless by ensuring their access to low-income housing. I will advocate the adoption of policies that ensure that more houses are built for the homeless populations. The housing should be safe and affordable to improve their health and wellbeing (Porter-O’Grady, 2018). I will collaborate with other healthcare providers and policymakers to explore the available opportunities for creating low-income sustainable housing for this population.

I will also advocate the need for expanded insurance coverage for this population to increase their access to and utilization of healthcare services. Health problems such as depression and substance abuse are highly prevalent among the homeless populations. Despite this, their access to high-quality mental healthcare services is limited due to their low socioeconomic status and insurance coverage (Gardner & Emory, 2018). Therefore, advocating for expanded insurance coverage for the population and elimination of the existing barriers to healthcare would promote their health.

Approaches such as those obtained from community-based participatory research can be adopted to achieve the above objectives. Accordingly, community-based participatory research is a collaborative approach in which community and academic partners collaborate to explore issues and concerns that affect the lives of the homeless populations. Cycles of data collection, analysis, capacity building, and problem solving are adopted to address inequalities and health disparities in this community (Kiser & Hulton, 2018). The members collaborate to identify community resources, opportunities, and resilience for positive growth, hence, sustainable change in addressing the needs of the homeless and poor in the community.

Conclusion

            In summary, the cultural immersion project impacted my understanding of the effect of culture on healthcare and service utilization. It expanded my understanding and ability to encompass cultural competence and humility in professional counseling. The experience also challenged and affirmed my worldview on the effect of factors such as oppression, power, and discrimination on health. Therefore, I will use the lessons learned from the experience to advocate for social justice for the homeless and poor populations in my community.

References

Alexander, A. C., Waring, J. J., Olurotimi, O., Kurien, J., Noble, B., Businelle, M. S., Ra, C. K., Ehlke, S. J., Boozary, L. K., & Cohn, A. M. (2022). The relations between discrimination, stressful life events, and substance use among adults experiencing homelessness. Stress and Health, 38(1), 79–89.

Brashear, C. A., & Thomas, N. (2022). Core competencies for combatting crisis: Fusing ethics, cultural competence, and cognitive flexibility in counseling. Counselling Psychology Quarterly, 35(1), 215–229.

Flynn, P. M., Betancourt, H., Emerson, N. D., Nunez, E. I., & Nance, C. M. (2020). Health professional cultural competence reduces the psychological and behavioral impact of negative healthcare encounters. Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, 26(3), 271.

Gardner, J., & Emory, J. (2018). Changing students’ perceptions of the homeless: A community service learning experience. Nurse Education in Practice, 29, 133–136.

Kiser, T., & Hulton, L. (2018). Addressing Health Care Needs in the Homeless Population: A New Approach Using Participatory Action Research. SAGE Open, 8(3), 2158244018789750. https://doi.org/10.1177/2158244018789750

Mejia-Lancheros, C., Lachaud, J., O’Campo, P., Wiens, K., Nisenbaum, R., Wang, R., Hwang, S. W., & Stergiopoulos, V. (2020). Trajectories and mental health-related predictors of perceived discrimination and stigma among homeless adults with mental illness. PloS One, 15(2), e0229385.

Neves-Silva, P., Martins, G. I., & Heller, L. (2018). “We only have access as a favor, don’t we?” The perception of homeless population on the human rights to water and sanitation. Cadernos de Saude Publica, 34.

Porter-O’Grady, T. (2018). Leadership Advocacy. Nursing Administration Quarterly, 42(2), 115–122.

Weng, S. S., & Clark, P. G. (2018). Working with homeless populations to increase access to services: A social service providers’ perspective through the lens of stereotyping and stigma. Journal of Progressive Human Services, 29(1), 81–101.

Zhang, H., Watkins Jr, C. E., Hook, J. N., Hodge, A. S., Davis, C. W., Norton, J., Wilcox, M. M., Davis, D. E., DeBlaere, C., & Owen, J. (2022). Cultural humility in psychotherapy and clinical supervision: A research review. Counselling and Psychotherapy Research, 22(3), 548–557.

Zhu, P., Luke, M., & Bellini, J. (2021). A grounded theory analysis of cultural humility in counseling and counselor education. Counselor Education and Supervision, 60(1), 73–89.

BUY A CUSTOM- PAPER HERE ON; Assignment: Cultural Immersion Experience

Final Project: Cultural Immersion Experience
Review all of the required materials under Learning Resources. Review directions for the week’s
Assignment as well as for the entire module.
Part of your aspirational journey to continuing to expand upon your understanding of cultural
competence and humility is to immerse yourself in a culturally diverse experience, event, and/or
ceremony. Immersion provides us with the ability to step outside of our comfort zone and become
fully present and engaged with those who are unlike ourselves.
Directions for Assignment:
For the Cultural Immersion Experience Assignment, you are required to engage in a culturally diverse
experience, event, and/or ceremony for at least 90 minutes related to the following topics: poverty, gender, sexual/affectional orientation, race/ethnicity, spirituality/religion, advocacy, and/or social justice.
You will have the option to attend an event (i.e., a religious ceremony, volunteering at a shelter or soup kitchen).
This activity is geared toward getting you out of your comfort zone and encouraging you to engage in something different and new that may open your eyes to a cultural experience, ceremony, or event that may help you become a more sensitive and culturally aware counselor. Additionally, consider
how this experience inspires you to consider advocating for social justice.
Sue, D. W., & Sue, D. (2016). Counseling the culturally diverse: Theory and practice (7th ed.).
Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.
Chapter 4, “The Political and Social Justice Implications of Counseling and Psychotherapy”
(pp. 107–139)

Shook, M. (Producer). (2017, October 18). EP59: Justice and advocacy in counseling: A
conversation with Jonnie Seay Lane [Audio Podcast]. The Thoughtful Counselor. Retrieved
from https://wp.me/p7R6fn-gl
Note: The approximate length of this media piece is 61 minutes.

Events cannot be based on personal group engagement/involvement or personal family or connection. After you attend the cultural immersion event, you will have the option to either write a 4-to 6-page scholarly paper or submit a 15-to-20-minute video presentation. As an alternative, you may also select to submit a paper/video combination including a 2–4-page paper AND 7–10-minute video presentation.
Papers and videos also must reference include a minimum of four (4) scholarly research articles to illustrate points. Additional resources are welcome but do not count towards your minimum of four scholarly articles. Two of your resources may come from the Learning Resources provided in the
class but at least two must be found independently from the Walden Library.
All papers must be written according to the American Psychological Association’s (APA) Publication Manual (i.e., proper title page, 12-font, double spaced, page numbers, headings, conclusion section, properly formatted Reference page, date, and time the event took place, etc.).
By Day 7 ofWeek 9
Select one of the following options for your final project.
Option I: Written Paper
Write a 4–6-page paper that contains the following using in-depth, self-reflective responses:
Description of the experience, event, ceremony, etc.
Why did you choose this experience?
How has this experience impacted you emotionally?
Describe at least two ways in which this experience has impacted your ability to encompass cultural competence in counseling.
Describe at least two ways in which this experience has impacted your ability to encompass cultural humility professionally.
Discuss at least two ways in how this experience changed your worldview related to oppression, discrimination, power, or privilege.
Discuss how you could infuse social justice advocacy in your work as a counselor, based on your cultural immersion experience. Consider advocacy based on the environment you plan to work in
(i.e., community mental health, school, private practice, etc.). For example, if you chose to attend
a LGBTQ+ Pride Festival and you are a school counselor, you might consider starting a Gender
and Sexualities Alliance (GSA) or a Sexuality and Gender Alliance (SAGA) at the school you work for. Or, if you chose to volunteer at a homeless shelter and are a mental health counselor, you might consider advocating for low-income housing.
RUBRIC
1a. Responsiveness

a. Description of the experience, event, ceremony, etc.

b. Why did you choose this experience?

c. How has this experience impacted you emotionally?–
Levels of Achievement:
A 3.21 (12.84%) – 3.57 (14.28%)
Paper and/or video presentation is responsive to and exceeds the requirements given in the instructions. It:
1. ) Responds to assigned or selected topic;
2.) Goes beyond what is required in some meaningful way (e.g., ideas contribute a new dimension to what we know about the topic, unearths something unanticipated, etc.)

1b. Responsiveness

c. Describe at least two specific ways in which this experience has impacted your ability to encompass cultural competence in counseling.–
Levels of Achievement:
A 3.21 (12.84%) – 3.57 (14.28%)
Paper and/or video presentation is responsive to and exceeds the requirements given in the instructions. It:
1. ) Responds to assigned or selected topic;
2.) Goes beyond what is required in some meaningful way (e.g., ideas contribute a new dimension to what we know about the topic, unearths something unanticipated, etc.)

1c. Responsiveness

d. Describe at least two specific ways in which this experience has impacted your personal ability to encompass cultural humility professionally.–
Levels of Achievement:
A 3.21 (12.84%) – 3.57 (14.28%)
Paper and/or video presentation is responsive to and exceeds the requirements given in the instructions. It:
1. ) Responds to assigned or selected topic;
2.) Goes beyond what is required in some meaningful way (e.g., ideas contribute a new dimension to what we know about the topic, unearths something unanticipated, etc.)

1d. Responsiveness

e. Discuss at least two specific ways this experience changed your personal worldview related to oppression, discrimination, power, or privilege that you have and have not experienced.–
Levels of Achievement:
A 3.21 (12.84%) – 3.57 (14.28%)
Paper and/or video presentation is responsive to and exceeds the requirements given in the instructions. It:
1. ) Responds to assigned or selected topic;
2.) Goes beyond what is required in some meaningful way (e.g., ideas contribute a new dimension to what we know about the topic, unearths something unanticipated, etc.)

1e. Responsiveness

f. Discuss how you could infuse social justice advocacy in your work as a counselor based on your cultural immersion experience.–
Levels of Achievement:
A 3.21 (12.84%) – 3.57 (14.28%)
Paper and/or video presentation is responsive to and exceeds the requirements given in the instructions. It:
1. ) Responds to assigned or selected topic;
2.) Goes beyond what is required in some meaningful way (e.g., ideas contribute a new dimension to what we know about the topic, unearths something unanticipated, etc.)

Content Knowledge:

The extent to which the content in the paper or writing assignment demonstrates an understanding of the important knowledge the paper/assignment is intended to demonstrate?–
Levels of Achievement:
A 3.21 (12.84%) – 3.57 (14.28%)
The paper and/or video presentation demonstrates/provides:
1.) In-depth understanding and application of concepts and issues presented in the course (e.g., insightful interpretations or analyses; accurate and perceptive parallels, ideas, opinions, and conclusions) showing that the student has absorbed the general principles and ideas presented and makes inferences about the concepts/issues or connects to them to other ideas;
2.) Rich and relevant examples;
3.) Thought-provoking ideas and interpretations, original thinking, new perspectives;
4.) Original and critical thinking; and
5.) Mastery and thoughtful/accurate application of knowledge and skills or strategies presented in the course.
Quality of Scholarly Communication:

The extent to which the student communicated in a way that meets graduate level writing or communication expectations?–
Levels of Achievement:
A 3.22 (12.88%) – 3.58 (14.32%)
Writing and/or video presentation exceeds graduate-level expectations. The paper and/or video:
1.) Includes language that is clear, concise, and appropriate;
2.) Has few, if any, errors in spelling, grammar, and syntax;
3.) Is extremely well organized, logical, clear, and never confuses the reader or viewer;
4.) Uses a preponderance of original language and uses direct quotes only when necessary and/or appropriate;
5.) Provides information about a source when citing or paraphrasing it.
6.) Exceeds requirements for scholarly references (4 minimum required).
7.) Paper meets page length
Resources

Required Readings

Lewis, J. A., Arnold, M. S., House, R., & Toporek, R. L. (2018). ACA advocacy competencies. Retrieved from https://www.counseling.org/docs/default-source/competencies/aca-advocacy-competencies-updated-may-2020.pdf?sfvrsn=f410212c_4

Toporek, R. L., Lewis, J. A., & Crethar, H. C. (2009). Promoting systemic change through the ACA advocacy competencies. Journal of Counseling and Development, 87(3), 260–268. doi:10.1002/j.1556-6678.2009.tb00105.x

Ratts, M. J. (2011). Multiculturalism and social justice: Two sides of the same coin. Journal of Multicultural Counseling and Development, 39(1), 24–37. doi:10.1002/j.2161-1912.2011.tb00137.x

Ratts, M. J., & Hutchins, A. M. (2009). ACA advocacy competencies: Social justice advocacy at the client/student level. Journal of Counseling & Development, 87(3), 269–275. doi:10.1002/j.1556-6678.2009.tb00106.x

Required Media

Microtraining Associates (Producer). (2012a). Fifth force: The multicultural counseling session [Video file]. Alexandria, VA: Academic Video Online. Retrieved from https://go.openathens.net/redirector/waldenu.edu?url=https://video.alexanderstreet.com/watch/fifth-force-the-social-justice-counseling-session

Note: The approximate length of this media piece is 175 minutes, although you will watch from 00:57:03 to 01:54:12 only.

Toporek, R. L., Ahluwalia, M. K., & Robey, E. (Producers). (2019). Helping counselors and psychologists as advocates and activists: strength, solidarity, strategy and sustainability [Video file]. Microtraining Associates. Retrieved from https://go.openathens.net/redirector/waldenu.edu?url=https%3A%2F%2Fvideo.alexanderstreet.com%2Fwatch%2Fhelping-counselors-and-psychologists-as-advocates-and-activists-strength-solidarity-strategy-and-sustainability%3Faccount_id%3D14872%26usage_group_id%3D95102