Cultural Competence in Health Services | The Jerusalem Intercultural Center

Celebrating the Interpreting Team Along the Way

We’ve mentioned here and here the wonderful work that Sha’are Zedek Medical Center has done recently in developing its culturally competent services, from training all new staff in the principles of cultural competency, to training a dedicated team of bi-lingual staff, whose mother tongues are Arabic, Russian and Amharic, to help ease communication between patients and doctors. These interpreters are already on staff at Sha’are Zedek, and have volunteered to help patients speaking these various languages. Our Dr. Michal Schuster, together with lecturers Beni Asegie, Tania Voinova and Salih Sawaed, trained them in a special course in medical interpreting.

Interpreters and training staff at Cinema City

On Tuesday, November 27, we all said thank you.

In the Cinema City VIP room

This special event – for both the medical interpreters and the cultural competency instructors who run the regular workshops at Sha’are Zedek – was held at Cinema City. The event began in Cinema City’s VIP room and included a pampering breakfast and other goodies, as well as a lecture by Michal, followed by the movie Bohemian Rhapsody in one of the complex’ theaters. Appropriate to the setting, Michal spoke about how interpreters (oral translators) are presented in movies, TV shows and in literature – how they view their role, and how society views their role.

Part of Michal’s talk

Many thanks to all the volunteers, who endeavor to make patients’ experiences more comfortable, who do this with love and dedication in addition to their regular hospital positions. Many thanks to Sha’are Zedek, for its efforts to train its staff in cultural competency – and equally as important, to recognize their contribution. And of course, many thanks to the Jerusalem Foundation, which has been our strategic partner in Cultural Competency since its establishment more than 10 years ago.

Here’s what Michal had to say about the meeting (Hebrew):

Naomi Roff2018-12-08T17:53:08+00:00December 8th, 2018|Blog, Cultural Competence, Cultural Competence in Health Services|

Learning from Cultural Competency in Design and Business for Health Care

What’s the most usable cup? What is the most communicative object?

At first glance, these are the most banal questions. But when an answer needs to be given, neither the questions nor the answers are trivial.

Yifat Keinan speaking

And the following questions might seem slightly more relevant for our coordinators for cultural competency in health care systems:

What’s the connection between a charm bracelet and child vaccinations? And why do older Haredi women come to physical therapy sessions with baby carriages?

Different characteristics of cups and glasses, which can be quite important to the end user

On Thursday, November 22 Iifat Keinan-Guy, industrial designer and lecturer in the Inclusive Industrial Design Department at Hadassah Academic College in Jerusalem, spoke to our forum of Jerusalem-based Cultural Competency Coordinators in health care. Ifat’s research focuses on rehabilitative environments in medical centers and treatment and advancing rehabilitation through design.

Difference in design, up close

In her presentation, Ifat opened up a window to the deliberations and brilliant ideas for medical devices, in which end-users are involved in the design. And a perfect example is the Immunity Charm, the answer to the charm bracelet question:

It was a fascinating meeting. And we discovered yet again, the importance of meeting and exchanging ideas and knowledge, for the benefit of patients throughout Jerusalem. The meeting’s 12 participants wasted no time, and took advantage of this opportunity to begin discussing a variety of partnerships and research ideas that would further the issues covered.

Many thanks to the Jerusalem Foundation for its continued support of Cultural Competency over the years.

Here’s our own Michal Schuster’s Facebook post (in Hebrew):

Naomi Roff2018-12-08T17:30:43+00:00December 3rd, 2018|Blog, Cultural Competence, Cultural Competence in Health Services|

A Decade of Cultural Competency – Digitization of Health Care and Other Worlds in Haredi Society

Today many people manage much of their health care needs electronically – over the Internet, through mobile apps and various social media. Medical information, consultation with doctors and nurses and making appointments – all of these actions are often done today online or via mobile apps. How does the Haredi population, which often eschews the open Internet, deal with these means of communication? How do they receive information, which many in the non-Haredi world have instant access to simply by filling out telephone numbers or e-mail addresses and receiving occasional updates?

Our fifth lecture in the celebrating a decade of Cultural Competency (see here, here, and here for former meetings) focused on the Haredi sector – how it relates to the Internet and social media, relating to the world of health care and others. The speaker was Shmuel Drilman, Haredi social activist and CEO of the Webetter digital company.

Shmuel Drilman lecturing

He spoke about how so much of our daily lives revolves around the Internet, smartphone apps and social media, from health care to a range of other services, and how the Haredi world – which is often closed to technological advancements – deals with the challenges of everyday life in the 21st century. He spoke about possible ways that the health care world can make information available to Haredi society, without compromising its online systems or the Haredi society’s cultural norms.

Many thanks to the ALYN Rehabilitative Hospital for their partnership and hosting of this series of lectures. And of course, many thanks to the Jerusalem Foundation for its strategic partnership in cultural competency over the last decade!

Here’s the Facebook post on the meeting:

Naomi Roff2018-12-01T12:45:57+00:00November 26th, 2018|Blog, Cultural Competence, Cultural Competence in Academic Institutions, Cultural Competence in Government Institutions, Cultural Competence in Health Services, Cultural Competence in Jerusalem Municipality, Cultural Competence in Police, Cultural Competence in the Workplace|

Celebrating a Decade of Cultural Competency: New Practical Uses for Old Traditions: The Ethiopian Case

It’s incredible that we’ve been leading efforts to increase cultural competency for the past 10 years. To celebrate, as we’ve described here and here, we’re hosting a series of lectures in partnership with the ALYN Rehabilitative Hospital and the Jerusalem Foundation. The latest lecture was on Monday, October 15, 2018. In honor of the upcoming Sigd Holiday, which will take place on November 7, the lecture focused on the source of the holiday, and enabled a closer look at different traditions that the Ethiopian community in Israel brings to society. This community had been disconnected from the rest of the Jewish world for more than 2,000 years until coming to Israel, and still preserves its ancient traditions while also developing new ones.

Yuvi lecturing

The lecturer was Ms. Yuvi Tashome-Katz, who was born in Ethiopia and came to Israel via Sudan. Today Yuvi is a social entrepreneur and activist, with twenty years’ experience in community work and counseling, and today is a member of the southern city of Gadera’s city council. In recognition of her social activities, Yuvi was chosen to light one of the ceremonial torches on the 2011 Independence Day celebrations. Later that year she was awarded the Prime Minister’s Prize for Initiatives and Innovation and the Matanel Prize for Groundbreaking Leadership.

Lecturing to a full house

In addition to the Sigd holiday, Yuvi spoke about how women learned about womanhood and parenting from the ‘Women’s House’ – a place women stayed during ‘menstruation holiday,’ as well as for 40 days after birth. From a young age teenagers were shown how to care for babies, nursing, and more. Children were taught to strengthen their abilities, and tasks around the house and in the fields were assigned according to their abilities. In addition, information about medicinal herbs, nutrition and other health-related issues was passed along orally from one to another.

ALYN’s lecture hall was full to the gills, and the 50 members of the audience had a fascinating lecture. The participants were impressed by the sheer amount of knowledge the Ethiopian elders had, and how much knowledge Israeli society missed out on. Participants were enthusiastic to invite Yuvi back, to help them better understand how this knowledge can help the therapeutic process.

Many thanks to Yuvi, to ALYN, and of course, to the Jerusalem Foundation for its ongoing support of cultural competency since its inception!

Naomi Roff2018-10-27T06:29:44+00:00October 21st, 2018|Blog, Cultural Competence, Cultural Competence in Academic Institutions, Cultural Competence in Government Institutions, Cultural Competence in Health Services, Cultural Competence in Jerusalem Municipality, Cultural Competence in Police, Cultural Competence in the Workplace, Ethiopian Jews, Identity Groups and Conflicts|

In Your Language – Hadassah Celebrates a Decade of Cultural Competency

One of our first projects when we started the Cultural Competency project a decade ago, together with the Jerusalem Foundation, was to work with Hadassah in making its systems culturally competent.

Cultural Competency workshops in action

A large component of their work was establishing a translation service for patients. This grew into the “In Your Language” project, which today provides in-person translation and interpretation from Hebrew into Arabic, Russian and Amharic, in both of Hadassah’s campuses, Mount Scopus and Ein Kerem. Here is the clip from 2011 about the project:

Recently, the Israeli Foreign Ministry recently made a short video in Arabic for its Arabic Facebook page. We just had to share this! Here’s the video:

Many thanks to the Jerusalem Foundation for its continued support of our cultural competency program since its establishment.

Naomi Roff2018-07-14T06:29:32+00:00July 10th, 2018|Blog, Cultural Competence, Cultural Competence in Health Services|

Celebrating a Decade of Cultural Competence – Third Lecture in a Series

We’ve reported here about Cultural Competency’s 10th anniversary year, which we’re celebrating with a series of lectures at the ALYN Rehabilitative Hospital. On Monday, June 25 we heard the third lecture, by Mr. Kassim Baddarni, Director of the El-Taj organization that advocates for Muslim patients.

Mr. Kassim Baddarni, The Muslim Patient

In his lecture entitled, “Care for the Muslim Patient – between Competence and Apathy.” He spoke about cultural, linguistic and religious principles that affect care for Muslim patients, and what they require for the most effective care. He also spoke about what is permitted and forbidden in medical care according to Islam. These can be divided into 4 principles:

The need cancels out the prohibition. Thus, for example, it’s permissible to get insulin shots or take medication that contains alcohol (which is usually forbidden in Islam), since these treatments are irreplaceable.
Abstention from anything that harms the body physically or emotionally, such as smoking or any other risk factor.
When faced with a situation that presents two acts that are generally forbidden under Islam, one should choose the act that does less harm, such as an abortion that aims to save the mother’s life.
The public good comes before personal benefit. Thus, giving blood and donating organs are allowed and encouraged.

Many thanks to ALYN for being the trailblazers of Cultural Competency a decade ago, and for the use of their space this year. And of course many thanks to the Jerusalem Foundation for their strategic partnership in Cultural Competency since the conception of the program.

Naomi Roff2018-07-08T05:36:35+00:00June 30th, 2018|Blog, Cultural Competence, Cultural Competence in Health Services, Cultural Competence in the Workplace|

Celebrating a Decade of Cultural Competence

It’s really been 10 years, a decade since we began our Cultural Competency project in the health system. In March 2008 we held what turned out to be the first conference on Cultural Competency at the ALYN Rehabilitative Hospital. In the 10 years since, we, and ALYN, have been trailblazers in cultural competency in Israel. ALYN was the first hospital to strive for full cultural competence on an everyday level, and we have become national leaders in cultural competency not only in the health care system, but in a range of different areas – from the work place to welfare and other municipal departments.

Dr. Maurit Be’ere and Daud Alian, addressing the first lecture celebrating a decade of Cultural Competency

We decided to celebrate this accomplishment with a series of lectures on Cultural Competency. The first focused on a lecture by Daud Alian, Director of the Atta’a Assistance Center for the Rights of Palestinian East Jerusalem Residents, on accessibility of Palestinian residents of East Jerusalem to health, welfare and education services.

The audience, listening attentively

ALYN’s lecture hall was full. Dr. Adit Dayan, Director of Community Projects from the Jerusalem Foundation, our strategic partner in Cultural Competency since its inception, opened the conference, along with Dr. Maurit Be’ere, Director of ALYN and the person responsible for bring cultural competency to the hospital, and Tal Cohen, who today is the coordinator for cultural competence at ALYN.

We can’t thank the Jerusalem Foundation enough for their partnership over the years.

Naomi Roff2018-10-27T06:29:06+00:00March 24th, 2018|Blog, Cultural Competence, Cultural Competence in Academic Institutions, Cultural Competence in Government Institutions, Cultural Competence in Health Services, Cultural Competence in Jerusalem Municipality, Cultural Competence in Police, Cultural Competence in the Workplace, Identity Groups and Conflicts|

Cultural Competency Coordinators – Putting Themselves in the ‘Other’s Shoes

One of the best ways to reduce inter-cultural tensions is by mentalization – understanding everyone’s viewpoints, needs and wants. Acknowledging the complexity of the situation, and even going through the process, helps to ease tensions, explained Irit Hovitz Fleishman, MSW, Founder and CEO of Grand Staff, which helps organizations and businesses manage greatly diverse staffs. Irit was the guest lecturer at the quarterly meeting of Jerusalem-based Cultural Competency Coordinators that took place on March 7, 2018, at the JICC.

Learning new tools for cultural competency with Irit Hovitz Fleishman

There were representatives from ALYN, Hadassah (Mount Scopus and Ein Kerem), Sha’are Zedek hospitals; the Jerusalem Center for Mental Health; Leumit and Meuchedet HMO’s; and even the newly-appointed Cultural Competency coordinator for the Yehuda Abarbanel Mental Health Center in Tel Aviv. Each representative was asked to bring a few case studies that required cultural sensitivity. The encounter was dedicated to learning Irit’s unique method of multi-cultural management, as well as learning practical methods by examining the case studies.

Examples included:

Maintaining volunteers from many cultures
Sensitivities to status and the boundaries of different positions
Cultural adaptations of staff events and holiday-time presents
Dealing effectively with political tensions resulting from outside events
Managing staff meetings, dietary restrictions (Kashrut, Halal), fasts, holidays (and vacation time)

Many thanks to the Jerusalem Foundation, which has been a strategic partner in Cultural Competency since its inception.

Naomi Roff2018-04-14T08:51:47+00:00March 12th, 2018|Blog, Cultural Competence, Cultural Competence in Health Services, Identity Groups and Conflicts|

Weaving Cultural Competency into the Fabric of Sha’are Zedek Medical Center

A woman comes to the hospital to deliver a baby, and her husband is the one who speaks to the doctors. How do you best communicate? How do you make sure that the woman’s needs are being met, while respecting the cultural mores of the patient, which dictate that the man does the talking?

This is just one of the examples discussed last week in a cultural competency training seminar that was held at Sha’are Zedek Medical Center last week, for 15 staff members from the gynecology clinic.

Staff training staff at Shaare Zedek

But this seminar was different than other seminars. This one was led by Sha’are Zedek staff, in a regularly-scheduled staff meeting.

We reported here and here about our two Training the Trainer courses, which sought to enable in-house staff at the different health services in Jerusalem to present the principles of cultural competency / sensitivity to other staff members. In discussions with Sha’are Zedek, it was decided that short introductions, during regularly-scheduled meetings, would be the best way to ensure that as many staff as possible were introduced to the basic concepts of cultural competency.

The staff meet a wide range of ethnicities and cultures in their work in the outpatient clinics and delivery rooms. The seminar seeks to help them respond to the needs of patients and their families in a way that is culturally sensitive to all of Jerusalem’s diverse population groups.

In light of the response to this seminar, staff are already planning the next, this one to the reception staff of the general outpatient and eye clinics. Congratulations to Sha’are Zedek, for being one of the few hospitals that have made cultural competency training part of its business-as-usual in staff meetings.

Many thanks to the Jerusalem Foundation for its partnership in developing the cultural competency program since 2008!

Naomi Roff2018-11-29T05:00:30+00:00February 5th, 2018|Blog, Cultural Competence, Cultural Competence in Health Services, Identity Groups and Conflicts|

Cultural Competency team and Santé Israël at National Ministry of Health Conference

On December 4, Santé Israël and our Cultural Competency team participated in the annual Ministry of Health conference on “Inequality in Health Care.” This was an excellent opportunity to advance and provide information about the number of different areas we work in.

Learning from Wisdom of Experience

In preparation for this conference we collected and published all 7 Wisdom of Experience newsletters into a brochure. Today this includes:

Rabbi as a Hospital Consultant, for matters concerning the Ultra-Orthodox population
In Your Language, Language Accessibility at Hadassah Medical Centres
Assimilating Use of a Telephone Interpreting Hotline
Training at the Western Galilee Medical Centre
Meeting New Knowledge: Multicultural Mental Health Treatment
So That Immigration Won’t Cost Them Their Health: Challenges in Health Care Consumption among French-speaking Immigrants
Round Tables with Haredi Women in Haifa

We also distributed Santé Israël flyers, as well as information about our new workshops on health and Haredim.

JICC helping to close gaps in health care in Israel

Many thanks to the Jerusalem Foundation for their ongoing support of the Cultural Competency project since its inception. Many thanks to the Pharmadom and Rashi Foundations for their continued support of Santé Israël.

Naomi Roff2017-12-29T11:27:12+00:00December 12th, 2017|Blog, Cultural Competence, Cultural Competence in Health Services, Cultural Competence in the Workplace, Santé Israël - French internet platform on the Israeli healthcare system|