Culturally sensitive care – a step towards more humanity

Culturally sensitive care focuses on enabling people in need of care to live in harmony with their individual values and cultural and religious needs. The focus is on human dignity and respect for the individual, regardless of their origin, values or beliefs. This approach aims to ensure that people can also live according to their own ideas in everyday care – be it through special diets, making prayers possible or respecting gender-specific preferences in care.

Section 2 of Book XI of the German Social Code (SGB XI) underlines this claim by stipulating that both gender-specific differences and the need for culturally sensitive care should be taken into account in long-term care insurance. This stipulates that nursing care must not only address the physical needs of those affected, but also their emotional and cultural needs.

Requirements for culturally sensitive care

In order for culturally sensitive care to be successfully implemented, certain prerequisites are required, both on the part of the nursing staff and the care facilities:

• Intercultural competence: Nursing staff must actively acquire knowledge about different cultures in order to understand and respect cultural differences.
• Open-mindedness and empathy: It requires a willingness to engage with the lives of those in need of care without drawing prejudices or jumping to conclusions.
• Language: Communication is a central aspect of care. Nursing staff should undergo further language training or, if possible, native-speaking nursing staff should be employed to avoid misunderstandings.
• Further training: In order to prepare nursing staff for the requirements of culturally sensitive care, regular training and further education are essential. There are numerous training and further education opportunities that specifically address the topics of intercultural competence, culturally sensitive care and intercultural communication.
• Religious needs: This may include adapting care routines to prayer times, setting up prayer rooms or observing religious dietary requirements.
• Gender identity: The question of whether a person in need of care wishes to be cared for by a woman or a man must also be respected.

Practical experience

The challenges are evident in practice. Care staff often report that there is little time in their day-to-day work to find out about the cultural background of those in need of care or even to learn new languages. This often leads to misunderstandings and tensions, especially when communication fails. People do not feel understood, which can lead to frustration, sadness or withdrawal.

This makes it all the more important that nursing staff approach their work with sensitivity and openness. At the same time, they can benefit from the experience themselves if they have the opportunity to witness or even help shape other people’s rituals. Such moments can be enriching and strengthen the understanding between the carer and the person in need of care.

Culturally sensitive care for people with dementia and a migration background poses a particular challenge. Those affected often experience a “triple foreignness” – the loss of their homeland, the loss of their language and the loss of their cognitive abilities. In such cases, recourse to earlier childhood memories can be helpful. Carers can provide support by including photo albums, songs or traditional dishes that evoke memories from the old homeland.

Initiatives such as the federal initiative “DeMigranz” have set themselves the task of providing information and advice services for people with a migrant background who are in need of care and their relatives. Such services help to better understand and implement the special needs of this group of people.

Culturally sensitive forms of housing

Culturally sensitive forms of housing are playing an increasingly important role in the care and support of people with different cultural, religious and social backgrounds. The aim is to take into account the individual needs of people with a migration background or specific cultural and religious backgrounds in order to offer them a living environment that is as familiar and dignified as possible. Some care facilities in Germany have already specialized in such culturally sensitive services.

One example of this is the Lina-Oberbäumer-Haus in Soest or the Damenstift in Munich. Both are retirement and nursing homes that are aimed exclusively at women. These facilities offer women a protected space that caters to their specific needs and wishes. Such facilities can be particularly important for women from patriarchal societies or with a conservative religious background, as they find an environment that takes gender-specific cultural norms into account.

Another example is the Frankfurt association, which specifically addresses the needs of LGBTI (lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans* and intersex) people with its rainbow care. People who are often confronted with prejudice or a lack of acceptance in traditional care facilities are cared for here. This specialized care offers them a safe environment in which their lifestyles and identities are respected and understood.

There are now also care facilities for people of Muslim or Jewish faith that cater to their religious and cultural needs. For example, the Hans-Sieber-Haus care home in Munich opened a section for Muslims for the first time. Or the Henry and Emma Budge Foundation care center in Frankfurt, which cares for elderly people of Jewish and non-Jewish faiths who need support in the spirit of the founder couple. In such homes, for example, attention is paid to religious dietary regulations, prayer rooms are offered and the nursing staff are sensitized to the specific cultural and religious characteristics of their residents.

These examples show that culturally sensitive care is becoming increasingly important, as it offers people a living environment that takes their cultural, religious and social characteristics into account and thus contributes to a greater sense of well-being.

Conclusion

Culturally sensitive care is a key component in meeting the diverse needs of an increasingly heterogeneous society. It relies on respect, openness and intercultural competence so that everyone – regardless of origin and culture – can age with dignity.