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Staff perspectives on the impact of cultural and language differences on social care work

Staff perspectives on the impact of cultural and language differences on social care work
Staff perspectives on the impact of cultural and language differences on social care work
The ageing of the ethnic minority population in Britain has led to a more ethnically diverse older client group for social care services than has ever been the case. This presentation focuses on the issue of how social care staff in Britain experience working across differences of culture, ethnicity, religion, and language. It reports on the perspectives of social care staff from both White British and minority ethnic backgrounds on their attempts to work in a culturally competent way. Individual in-depth interviews were carried out with 39 social care practitioners, including social workers, occupational therapists, domiciliary carers, care home staff, managers, and commissioners. The interviews were analysed using thematic analysis. The themes related to training needs, uncertainties about how to behave, and professional competence. The perceived shortcomings of existing diversity training led to some practitioners feeling uncertain about how to behave with clients from different backgrounds to themselves. They reported a dilemma about whether admitting ignorance would result in improved or worsened rapport. Other practitioners were confident in how to work across diversity. The key difference between these practitioners and the uncertain practitioners was being open in discussing and asking about diversity. Some practitioners felt unable to perform to their accustomed skill level when working across language or cultural differences, which has implications for the quality of care provided as well as their own job satisfaction. The presentation offers some critical discussion of the concept of a culturally competent practitioner.
Willis, Rosalind
dd2e5e10-58bf-44ca-9c04-f355f3af26ba
Pathak, Pathik
29d3480f-191e-4caf-8cf6-3d3836ec39c5
Khambhaita, Priya
c9cd6096-cd82-4c07-ae32-cf0bf3459fae
Evandrou, Maria
cd2210ea-9625-44d7-b0f4-fc0721a25d28
Willis, Rosalind
dd2e5e10-58bf-44ca-9c04-f355f3af26ba
Pathak, Pathik
29d3480f-191e-4caf-8cf6-3d3836ec39c5
Khambhaita, Priya
c9cd6096-cd82-4c07-ae32-cf0bf3459fae
Evandrou, Maria
cd2210ea-9625-44d7-b0f4-fc0721a25d28

Willis, Rosalind, Pathak, Pathik, Khambhaita, Priya and Evandrou, Maria (2015) Staff perspectives on the impact of cultural and language differences on social care work. British Society of Gerontology Annual Conference, Newcastle, United Kingdom. 30 Jun - 02 Jul 2015.

Record type: Conference or Workshop Item (Paper)

Abstract

The ageing of the ethnic minority population in Britain has led to a more ethnically diverse older client group for social care services than has ever been the case. This presentation focuses on the issue of how social care staff in Britain experience working across differences of culture, ethnicity, religion, and language. It reports on the perspectives of social care staff from both White British and minority ethnic backgrounds on their attempts to work in a culturally competent way. Individual in-depth interviews were carried out with 39 social care practitioners, including social workers, occupational therapists, domiciliary carers, care home staff, managers, and commissioners. The interviews were analysed using thematic analysis. The themes related to training needs, uncertainties about how to behave, and professional competence. The perceived shortcomings of existing diversity training led to some practitioners feeling uncertain about how to behave with clients from different backgrounds to themselves. They reported a dilemma about whether admitting ignorance would result in improved or worsened rapport. Other practitioners were confident in how to work across diversity. The key difference between these practitioners and the uncertain practitioners was being open in discussing and asking about diversity. Some practitioners felt unable to perform to their accustomed skill level when working across language or cultural differences, which has implications for the quality of care provided as well as their own job satisfaction. The presentation offers some critical discussion of the concept of a culturally competent practitioner.

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More information

Published date: 2 July 2015
Venue - Dates: British Society of Gerontology Annual Conference, Newcastle, United Kingdom, 2015-06-30 - 2015-07-02
Organisations: Gerontology

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 378973
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/378973
PURE UUID: 9abc45f8-ae38-4a58-b18b-c6957ce8a784
ORCID for Rosalind Willis: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0001-6687-5799
ORCID for Maria Evandrou: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-2115-9358

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 18 Jul 2015 15:12
Last modified: 12 Dec 2021 03:49

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Contributors

Author: Rosalind Willis ORCID iD
Author: Pathik Pathak
Author: Priya Khambhaita
Author: Maria Evandrou ORCID iD

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