Cultural Awareness Project Ethnocentrism - 1723 Words

Hi this is Brittney Del Pizzo and today for my cultural awareness project I will be discussing ethnocentrism in the imaging department. My objectives for the presentation is to explain how you can avoid ethnocentrism in the imaging department and to also explain how ethnocentrism can lead to stereotyping and how this can further have a negative impact on the department. I want to begin by discussing some general definitions so that you have a better understand of the topics that I am going to discuss. I think it is important to begin by defining the definition of culture. As we learned in class culture is a unique combination of rituals, religious beliefs, ways of thinking and ways of behaving that unify a group of people. Further†¦show more content†¦Some ways to become culturally aware include first becoming aware of different cultures that surround us. When we become aware we also have to take the time to evaluate our own prejudices. Secondly, we cannot allow cultural diversity to lead us to criticize or even draw judgments of others. Thirdly, we have to build friendships with individuals of different cultures. By building friendships it allows us to respect others while also learning about their culture. Fourth, we need to show understanding of individuals that are of different cultures. When we develop understanding of different cultur es it also let’s them know that we truly care. Fifth, we need to listen to individuals of different cultures. As health care professionals this is probably the most important to us. Sometimes it may be difficult to understand or even relate to individuals of different cultures, so we need to take the time to ask questions so that we can better treat them. Lastly, we need to learn about different cultures. We can never learn too much about another culture, and it will only help us become more culturally aware. Now that we know what it means to be culturally aware and how you can develop cultural awareness I want to show you how this can relate to the health care profession, specifically the imaging department. I want to give you specific examples that I have seen within the