CDA Essentials 2019 • Volume 7 • Issue 2

9 Issue 2 | 2019 | CDA at W ork A s care providers, dentists know that a strong, trusting, patient–provider relationship is the foundation of a positive clinical experience. Recently, I’ve come to recognize that developing cultural competency is a core part of building trust with patients, especially those whose life experiences and circumstances are very different from my own. Providing culturally competent care enables us to better support and build positive relationships with our patients who come from many different social, cultural and economic backgrounds. It requires us to understand our patients’ life experiences and acknowledge their health-related values and goals. It also requires that we, as health care providers, reflect on our own cultural biases about how people want to be cared for. In short, culturally competent care engages patients as partners in their care and allows us to tailor our treatment recommendations to their values and beliefs, within a safe and non-judgemental environment. But cultural competence is about more than providing oral health care in a way that respects our patients’ cultural backgrounds. It’s also about providing care that meets the needs of the person in your chair. Providing culturally competent care can bring more predictable outcomes, increased patient satisfaction, greater adherence to treatment recommendations and a stronger commitment to preventive care. Strategies for becoming a culturally competent health care provider can be found in many sources, including a learning module offered on the Canadian Dental Connection website (p. 15) . If, like me, you are new to the concept, this learning module is a great introduction. After reviewing the material, I realized how valuable it is to provide person-centred care through a lens of cultural competency. The module identifies some excellent strategies for improving the way we interact with patients, including getting to know them by asking questions and listening carefully without judgement, providing step-by-step explanations, avoiding the use of clinical jargon, learning about non-verbal cues across different cultures, and becoming familiar with key aspects of the patient’s culture, including traditional medicines. Developing cultural competence in dentistry is a lifelong learning process that will give you insights about your patients, their communities and how this intersects with your own cultural identity. Given the expanding diversity of our country’s population and a growing awareness about the benefits of a person-centred approach to care, being culturally competent is increasingly an integral part of achieving successful health outcomes. Dentists recognize that the best possible health outcomes are the result of partnerships with individuals who are engaged in their care and feel part of a community that supports them. By becoming culturally competent, dentists can demonstrate to patients that we support them and are privileged to be part of their extended community. It is one more meaningful step towards fulfilling our shared goal: oral care for everyone in Canada. From the President Michel (Mitch) Taillon, dmd president@cda-adc.ca Cultural Competence Know thePerson in your Chair