Cultural Competence in the Workplace | The Jerusalem Intercultural Center

“Jerusalem as a Culturally Competent City” Conference

In what other setting could you find the Jewish Mayor of Jerusalem introduced in both Hebrew and Arabic, followed by the President of the Jerusalem Foundation, herself addressing the audience in English, Hebrew and Arabic, followed by a Muslim Canadian keynote speaker of Pakistani origin? Only at the “Jerusalem as a Culturally Competent City” conference, which we hosted, along with the Jerusalem Foundation, at the Jerusalem Cinematheque on Tuesday, May 17.

It was the culmination of 10 years of working to advance cultural competency, together with the Jerusalem Foundation. What began as focusing on health care, at the ALYN Rehabilitative Hospital, at Clalit primary care clinics and at the Hadassah Medical Center Mount Scopus has blossomed into a concept that encompasses all fields and all sectors, in Jerusalem and throughout Israel.

Opening the conference in Arabic and Hebrew

Throughout the day over 300 people participated, listening to over 70 speakers. They came from all walks of life, from all different fields. We had professionals from the municipality, senior officials in planning, education, welfare and community life. We had researchers and leaders from colleges, universities and think tanks. We had active community residents. We had professionals from a wide range of NGO’s. We had the Israel Police and the IDF. We had Christian and Muslim Arabs, some residents of East Jerusalem, some not. We had secular, traditional, religious and ultra-Orthodox Jews. The entire day was conducted with Arabic, Hebrew and English on equal footing. (You can see the tri-lingual program here.) We had it all. We had Jerusalem in all its wonderful diversity.

The tri-lingual invitation

Throughout the day, we discussed ways that service providers, in all fields, can make their services equally accessible to all of Jerusalem’s populations, making them culturally competent. And on the residents’ side, we discussed ways that they can work to improve their own access to these rights and services, many of which are guaranteed them by law. We discussed strategies and challenges, and the process in between. It was fascinating, exhilarating and downright riveting.

Ms. Uzma Shakir, Keynote Speaker

Mayor Nir Barkat opened the conference, saying: “The starting point for any activity that we do in Jerusalem is the city’s unique DNA, which is unlike any other city in the world.” When the city was founded, more than 3,000 years ago, “its gates were open to everyone, all tribes, Jewish and not…No one felt like they were a guest in Jerusalem…Everyone found their place,” he continued. It is this philosophy, where everyone finds their place, that informs us to this day.

Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat at conference

Yohanna Arbib-Perugia, President of the Jerusalem Foundation, was the next speaker. She emphasized the important role of cultural competence in a diverse and unique city as Jerusalem. Seeing the Jerusalem Intercultural Center as a strategic partner of the Foundation, she believes that the focus of the Foundation on cultural competence will deepen in the coming years.

Uzma Shakir, Director of the Office of Equity, Diversity and Human Rights, City of Toronto, was the keynote speaker. She described the processes taking place in Toronto and throughout Canada regarding multiculturalism and cultural competency, which include developing approaches appropriate to the vastly different population groups in Canada, from the native populations to the Francophone community of Quebec to recent immigrants from south Asia and elsewhere. She first defined the role of cultural competency:

Cultural competency can be viewed in two ways: it can either be seen as paternalistic and prescriptive – something you do for others who have either limited or unequal power to claim their rights; or transformative and critical – consciously producing spaces that address those power differentials in a meaningful manner and eventually lead to an equitable and just society. In other words, cultural competency can mean being nice to people while maintaining the status quo of inequality or it can mean empowering marginalized people to take control over their own destiny and to change the conditions in society to produce equitable and just outcomes for all. However, this requires an honest recognition of who is marginalized and then consciously co-creating the conditions for inclusion. In this sense, Toronto has its challenges just like Jerusalem and provides some compelling lessons.

She explained the desired outcome of culturally competent processes through this picture:

Three views of Equity

In the first approach, existing infrastructures render services equally for different people. However, since people’s needs are different, equal provision of services does not create proper equality. In the second approach, adjustments are made, often ad hoc, to be able to work within the existing infrastructure to provide services in a way that responds differently to the different needs. In the third approach, infrastructure is built from the start with the different needs of different people in mind, to enable each to meet his or her particular needs in the best way possible.

Here is Ms. Shakir’s full speech:

For the speech in written form, click here.

Discussing challenges to cultural competency

Following the opening session, four parallel sessions addressed different aspects of cultural competency. These included, “Setting & Implementing Cultural Competence Policy in An Organization,” “Cultural Competence in the Public Sphere,” “Coping with Social and Political Tensions in a Multicultural City,” and “Cultural Competence Activities of the Community.” Speakers included the directors of the Bloomfield Science Museum Jerusalem, Museum of Islamic Art, the Tisch Family Zoological Gardens, the ALYN Hospital Pediatric Rehabilitation Center, the Haredi College, community centers from around the city, senior officials in the Municipality, and many, many more.

Setting and implementing cultural competence in organizations

Setting and implementing cultural competence policy in organizations

Even lunch was an exercise in cultural competency. Different foods were labeled with no translation in a range of languages – from Amharic to Russian to Polish and more. Choosing food at the buffet became a funny challenge….

How do you say salmon in Amharic?

After lunch the plenary session discussed major organizations’ efforts to make their services culturally competent. Speakers ranged from the Director of Community Services Administration in the Jerusalem Municipality, the President of Hadassah Academic College, the Director of the Jerusalem Center for Mental Health, and the Commander of the David Precinct of the Israel Police (which includes the all resident quarters of the Old City (Christian Quarter, Muslim Quarter, Armenian Quarter, Jewish Quarter), plus sites such as the Western Wall, the Temple Mount / Haram al-Sharif, Mount Zion and the David’s Tomb complex). The final parallel sessions discussed case studies in cultural competency in different fields – education, health care (This was considered ‘advanced cultural competency’ since indeed our work began in health care some 10 years ago.), arts and culture and community activism toward tolerance.

Our heartfelt thanks go to the Jerusalem Foundation for their partnership and support over these past 10 years. And many congratulations on their 50th anniversary celebrations, of which this conference was a part.

It was the first conference surveying cultural competency in Jerusalem. Will there be another? Stay tuned to find out.

Looking for more? Here’s the video of the entire opening session:

Naomi Roff2017-05-02T07:31:16+00:00June 1st, 2016|Asylum Seekers, Blog, Christians, Cultural Competence, Cultural Competence in Academic Institutions, Cultural Competence in Health Services, Cultural Competence in the Workplace, Ethiopian Jews, Identity Groups and Conflicts, Jewish Religious Denominations, New Immigrants, Palestinians/Arabs, Santé Israël - French internet platform on the Israeli healthcare system, Ultra-Orthodox Jews|

Petition! Santé Israël Website – Example of Helping French-Speakers in Israel in Healthcare

“For years, the Pharmadom Foundation has helped the most vulnerable populations in Israel to seek and support emerging or not covered by government requirements. This is what led us to recently create the Santé Israël (“Health Israel”) website, which has quickly established itself as a valuable tool to help French Olim to navigate the Israeli health system.”

This is what the Pharmadom Foundation said about our Santé Israël website in a recent petition that seeks to enable French-trained pharmacists to practice in Israel without being required to take certification examinations.

Pharmadom petition site

Santé Israël was launched in September 2015, and was developed thanks to a partnership with Pharmadom. Santé Israël is a mobile-friendly website makes Israel’s health care system accessible to French speakers. The site offers comprehensive explanations about Israel’s health care system, which is vastly different from that of France, as well as its four main health funds.

We’re happy to be a prime example of their work. Many wishes for success with the petition!

Many thanks to the Pharmadom Foundation for their ongoing support of the project. The Pharmadom Foundation works under the auspices of the Foundation of French Judaism (FSJU) and the Rashi Foundation.

Naomi Roff2018-06-04T04:48:50+00:00February 18th, 2016|Blog, Cultural Competence, Cultural Competence in Health Services, Cultural Competence in the Workplace, Employment, Identity Groups and Conflicts, New Immigrants, Santé Israël - French internet platform on the Israeli healthcare system|

Healthcare Certification Training: Taking Stock

Over the past few weeks we’ve gotten some great news – that 6 more occupational therapists who took our course passed the Ministry of Health certification exam, and several more were very close. As the results continue to come in, we thought we’d take stock over the past 4 years of the program. We’ve really come a long way:

The program has increased the number of certified Arab paramedical professionals in East Jerusalem exponentially. Since it began in 2012, nearly 70 nurses, occupational therapists, and physical therapists to pass their Israeli certification exams. This includes 37 nurses, 24 occupational therapists and 6 physical therapists. Beforehand, only 1-2 would pass each year in each discipline. It would have taken many years to achieve these results otherwise.
The program has enabled us to more clearly map the situation of different paramedical professions in East Jerusalem, contributing to the knowledge of training in the Jerusalem area. As we developed courses for different disciplines, we have gained an in-depth knowledge of the state of diverse fields in East Jerusalem. This is the first time ever that any type of mapping has been done, and this information is now available for the first time to health care and educational institutions, as well as the Israel Ministry of Health.
The program has raised awareness both among Palestinian institutes of higher education and health care institutions in East Jerusalem as well as Israeli Ministry of Health. When we began the program, there was little compliance and even less awareness about the need and benefits of having staff that have passed the certification exam in their fields. Today, all the major health care institutions in East Jerusalem, Palestinian universities, as well as Ministry of Health, better understand this need. We believe this understanding will lead to an improvement in health care in East Jerusalem.
The program has opened a large window of opportunity for Arab women paramedical professionals to improve economic opportunities. After they pass their certification exams improves their access to employment rights, which includes an increase in pay and employment conditions.
As a result of the program, the JICC has earned a prestigious reputation for offering high-quality courses. Since we began these courses, graduates of the physical therapy and occupational therapy courses have had high rates of success in passing the certification examinations. As a result of this success, graduates, and even expectant graduates, of the different Palestinian universities have requested to register for courses well in advance.
Our reputation proceeds itself in expanding to new disciplines. As a result of the success of graduates of physical and occupational therapy, graduates of other paramedical professions – speech therapists and medical laboratory technicians – have requested we develop courses, which are now in various stages of development. Thus, we have expanded our offerings from two to six (also including physical therapy, speech therapy, medical laboratory technicians and medical Hebrew). We are also in regular contact with the medical faculty of Al-Quds University, ready to assist if needed.

A meeting of the nursing course

We’ve just started a new course for physical therapists, and are developing courses for speech therapists and medical lab technicians. We’ll keep you posted on further updates.

Many thanks to the Jerusalem Foundation and the Hadassah Foundation for their support of this program.

Naomi Roff2016-02-20T08:37:40+00:00February 15th, 2016|Blog, Cultural Competence, Cultural Competence in Health Services, Cultural Competence in the Workplace, Employment, Employment Accessibility, Identity Groups and Conflicts, Palestinians/Arabs, Supporting employment in East Jerusalem|

Training the Trainers in Cultural Competency – Reaching the Peak of Project Development

We’ve been working in Cultural Competency for a long time – 8 years to be exact. Our work has run the gamut of both deep and broad – our work at the ALYN Rehabilitative Hospital in Jerusalem included not only training all personnel in the principles of cultural competency, but also ensuring that signs and forms were translated into a number of languages, as well as enabling medical interpretation in a number of languages. Our work with the Israel Ministry of Health led to the directive that required all health care institutions to become culturally competent. We worked in individual clinics and HMO’s on the national level. We’ve been developing, together with the Bar Ilan University Department of Interpreting and Translation, training films and a training guide to use with the films. The guide was recently completed, which led us to the next natural step – a training the trainers course.

Training the Trainers Class Picture

The course was a 5-session workshop – 40 academic hours – that ran from November 5 – December 3, 2015. It included 15 participants from all over Israel, including 5 Jerusalem representatives – from ALYN, the Jerusalem Center for Mental Health, Hadassah Mount Scopus, Hadassah Ein Kerem and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Participants came from a wide variety of fields within the health care system – social work, occupational therapy, nursing, admissions officers, instructors in nursing schools and more. Two participants had already been our students – in medical interpreting courses for professionals in mental health fields.

The course was based on the short movies and the instruction handbook that were produced over the last two years. The course included skills on how to facilitate training workshops, cultural competency workshops that are based on the movies or on case studies that the participants bring with them. The course was such a success that we are already planning the next one – hurry and sign up, before it is full!

Naomi Roff2016-01-01T14:32:24+00:00December 13th, 2015|Asylum Seekers, Blog, Christians, Cultural Competence, Cultural Competence in Academic Institutions, Cultural Competence in Health Services, Cultural Competence in the Workplace, Ethiopian Jews, Identity Groups and Conflicts, Jewish Religious Denominations, New Immigrants, Palestinians/Arabs, Ultra-Orthodox Jews|

Toward Culturally Competent Employment Training and Placement

Cultural competency affects us all, nearly everywhere – in the health care system, in the welfare system, in the education system, and more. Issues related to cultural competency also come into play in employment training and placement, and we are proud to be a part of change in the system.

Be-Atzmi workshop

On November 10 we held an all-day seminar for the Be-Atzmi organization, which assists thousands of unemployed and underprivileged men and women every year to integrate, on their own, into stable and appropriate workforce opportunities. Since Be-Atzmi often works with populations on the geographic and socio-economic periphery – including Israelis of Ethiopian descent, the Ultra-Orthodox, and Arab populations – a culturally competent approach to employment training and placement can be critically important for the program’s successes. Thus, this year the organization dedicated its annual professional development seminar to cultural competency.

More of the workshop

The seminar was held for all workers who come in contact with clients from throughout the country – some 150 people – and was held at the Academic College of Tel Aviv-Yafo. The day included teaching the different skills required to deal with different issues in a culturally competent manner. These included, for example, cultural objections to going out to work, refreshments during the Muslim month of Ramadan in mixed groups, integrating husbands into decisions, etc. The seminar dealt mainly with ‘personal cultural competence,’ which means how cultural competency affects individual people. For instance, a case worker suggested what seemed to be a perfect job for a Bedouin woman – working as a maid in a hotel. The pay was above minimum wage, the wages included full benefits, and the hotel provided transportation to and from work. The one problem – in Bedouin society, working as a hotel maid is not something ‘good girls’ do. It is considered to be ‘working in the bedroom,’ just one step up from prostitution (!) The solution – all the job seekers must be interviewed to see what kinds of jobs they’d be willing to take, and it must be made sure that cultural and religious norms are not infringed upon.

Participant in workshop

Other issues that were discussed were interviews, and the different ‘western codes’ of what is acceptable and not acceptable to say in an interview, being on time, involvement of the husband in decision-making – there is a gap between what the facilitators are used to and what the clients need.

As a result of the positive feedback received by organizers and participants, we will also begin to work with Be-Atzmi in developing their organizational cultural competence as well. This means ensuring that all forms and informative publications and signage be produced in a number of languages to fit the clients’ needs, that different culture’s holidays are respected, etc. In short, it means making sure that the broader picture that is the organization thinks in a culturally competent manner.

Naomi Roff2015-12-18T19:06:31+00:00November 17th, 2015|Asylum Seekers, Blog, Christians, Cultural Competence, Cultural Competence in the Workplace, Ethiopian Jews, Identity Groups and Conflicts, Jewish Religious Denominations, New Immigrants, Palestinians/Arabs, Ultra-Orthodox Jews|

Can Israel’s Police Force Become Culturally Competent?

The news is full of stories of the police’s treatment – appropriate or not – of civilians. Just recently Americans marked the one-year anniversary of the shooting of a young, black, unarmed man by a white police officer in Ferguson, Missouri, USA, which led to riots and civil unrest for some time. In May of this year Israeli police officer were shown beating a soldier of Ethiopian descent, which led to a wave of demonstrations of the Ethiopian community in Israel, and unrest in the streets.

Israel’s police force – and any police force – are under constant and almost unbearable pressure to keep law and order, working among a vastly diverse population. Educators in the Israeli Police Force recognized this complexity, and requested to begin working with us to develop a cultural competency training module for police cadets. To their credit, planning work actually began before relations between the police and the Ethiopian community made headlines. But the light shown on the police during the full-force demonstrations of the Ethiopian community this spring underlined the necessity of this kind of training. As a result, we began to working with all new police cadets, as part of their 14-week basic training course. At the same time, we are beginning an in-depth process with 23 police stations throughout the country.

At this first stage we are implementing introductory workshops to different training courses – basic policing, detectives, border police, cavalry, advanced policing – all are undergoing the basic 1 1/2 hour workshop. Since the beginning of June we’ve held 40 seminars, with 20 – 30 police cadets in each group. That’s already 1,200 cadets! After this, we will be organizing a Train the Trainers course for the regular instructors in the police academy, so the principles can be fully integrated into their training regimen.

The Israel Police Academy (credit: Israeli Police Facebook page)

More in-depth processes will be taking place in 26 police stations throughout the country that have high concentrations of Israelis of Ethiopian descent, including two in Jerusalem, Moriah in the south and Shufat in the north. In this process we are partnering together with the Gishurim project. The first step of this process will be a half-day seminar on cultural competency, using facilitators that we’ve trained. We will begin training the facilitators in September; they will then lead 150 seminars throughout the country.

And what do the police think about these training sessions? We’re finding that many, especially Jerusalemites, are already very in-tuned to the cultural complexities of our city, and make every effort to consider the effects that cultural sensitivity has on the residents with whom they come into contact. We are honored to be part of a process that seeks to bring law and order to all residents of the city.

Naomi Roff2017-05-02T07:52:10+00:00August 13th, 2015|Asylum Seekers, Blog, Christians, Cultural Competence, Cultural Competence in Police, Cultural Competence in the Workplace, Ethiopian Jews, Identity Groups and Conflicts, Jewish Religious Denominations, Jewish-Palestinian/Arab, New Immigrants, Palestinians/Arabs, Ultra-Orthodox Jews|

Putting Cultural Competency into High Gear

We’ve been working to improve cultural competency in the health care system for quite awhile (See here for more information). We’ve even gotten some nice press articles over the years. Now, together with our partners in academia, we’re putting cultural competency into high gear, and getting the word out on all levels.

Most recently, we’ve been partners in the publication of a unique document in Hebrew. It was written in cooperation with the Ruppin Academic Center’s Institute for Immigration and Social Integration and the JDC-Israel, on using training workshops for introducing principles of Cultural Competency into local municipalities and authorities, with an emphasis on the welfare departments. Click here for the complete document.

Cultural Competency in Local Authorities

A second document was an article in the Ministry of Health’s periodical by our colleagues from the Ruppin Academic Center and Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, who wrote a comparative survey of cultural competency in the health care systems of England, Australia, the USA and Israel. Click here for the complete document. We are mentioning this article since the pages about Israel show how central is the role of the JICC in the field of Cultural Competence in Israel.

Cultural Competency comparison

These publications join other recent accomplishments, including:

Publication of the Manual for Assimilating Cultural Competency principles in Health Care Institutions in Israel, which was published in July 2013. Click here for the document in Hebrew.
Production of four training videos, together with Bar Ilan University, the first such training videos in Israel;
Development of peer networks for cultural competency coordinators from throughout Israel, including special networks for mental health institutions;
Publication of information sheets in Hebrew on a number of Muslim, Jewish, Christian and Druze holidays, available here;
Offering of free consultation services for solving issues concerning Haredi clients / patients, in cooperation with Rabbi Zvi Porat of ALYN Rehabilitation Hospital.
Delving into cultural competency issues in mental health, which require a completely unique approach.
Publication of guidelines on a number of relevant topics, from writing on the Sabbath for religious Jews to dealing with heightened emotions during times of social and political tensions.

All the while, continuing our training and supervision of staffs from the gamut of health care organizations. We’ve come so far, yet there’s so much work to do.

Naomi Roff2014-07-18T13:31:01+00:00July 17th, 2014|Blog, Cultural Competence, Cultural Competence in Health Services, Cultural Competence in the Workplace, Featured|

Lod – Cultural Competence Training to Service Providers

As an outcome of the work of Lod’s Multicultural Forum, a first training on cultural competency for service providers has begun. This is probably the first training of this kind at the national level.

Today’s meeting, the first in the series, was facilitated by Najuan Daadleh and hagai Agmon-Snir from the JICC. The meeting with attended by 15 participants coming from various departments of the Lod municipality, the local employment service, non-profit organizations, community centers and more.

The first two meetings focus on cross-cultural communication and an introduction to cultural competency. Additional meetings will provide models for better communication with a client of a different cultural background, using interpretation, adapting a service to various client groups, and other relevant topics. Case studies and simulations will enhance the learning process.

jicc2014-04-07T19:19:14+00:00April 2nd, 2009|Blog, Courses, Cross-Cultural Communication Trainings, Cultural Competence, Cultural Competence in the Workplace, Outside Jerusalem|

Fourth Training to Municipality Absorption Neighborhood Officers

On February 18, we held the fourth training in the series that provides the Absorption Officers at the municipality with an introduction to the field of Cultural Competence. The series covers topics such as organizational cultural competence, cross-cultural communication, tools for cultural competence, case studies and simulations.

In the workshop we learnt about medical models for inter-cultural dialogue with patients. Based on these models we formulated tools adequate to the needs of absorption officers and other service providers in their work with new immigrants. Special emphasis was given to political issues and inter-group tensions that are raised during meetings of the absorption officers with their clientele.

The absorption officers will examine the tools at work and during our next meeting in April we will conclude the discussion about the usability of such tools. In the last workshop in the series we will also focus on the role of these professionals as cultural competence agents in their neighborhoods.

jicc2014-04-05T18:01:27+00:00February 18th, 2009|Blog, Courses, Cross-Cultural Communication Trainings, Cultural Competence, Cultural Competence in the Workplace, Identity Groups and Conflicts, New Immigrants|

Third Training to Municipality Absorption Neighborhood Workers

On February 4, we held the third training in the series that provides the Absorption Workers at the municipality with an introduction to the field of Cultural Competence. The series covers topics such as organizational cultural competence, cross-cultural communication, tools for cultural competence, case studies and simulations.

In the training we continued and deepened our efforts to adopt Cross-Cultural Communication skills. This time, using the example of interaction between American guests and their hosts, their Israeli partners, we defined some of the main attributes of the Israeli manner of interacting and communicating. We applied these insights to interactions between Israelis who come from different cultural backgrounds, with an emphasis on new immigrants in Israel.

Next we examined positive and negative ways to judge behaviors of the “other” and how we can broaden the repertoire of behaviors that one can accept as legitimate. Yet, the main challenge is to find the bridge – to find the way to get the most out of the inter-cultural encounter. An interesting example was brought up by one of the participants regarding an Ethiopian couple who were supposed to go to the hospital for an important appointment that was set months in advance. At the last minute before their departure some of their family relatives showed up unexpectedly. According to their values and norms the Ethiopian couple had to host the guests. When they arrived to the hospital hours later the staff there were very angry with them.

At the training we took the opportunity to analyze this real life example, similar to many that we at the JICC encounter these days. We asked ourselves in which circumstances is it legitimate, in Israeli society, to arrive late to a medical appointment – e.g. death of close relative or a road closed because of a security threat. How would a “mainstream Israeli” act in order to ensure that she/he gets to the appointment even though he or she are late due to such reasons. We tried to work out how would it be possible for both sides – medical staff and patients – to get their interests and needs met in such a situation. This important example resonated with the training participants, who are exposed to similar cases in their daily work as service providers, and as those who try to help new immigrants navigate Israeli bureaucracy.

In the next meeting we will aspire to adapt medical models for inter-cultural dialogue with patients to the work of absorption officers and other service providers.

jicc2014-04-05T17:58:19+00:00February 4th, 2009|Blog, Courses, Cross-Cultural Communication Trainings, Cultural Competence, Cultural Competence in the Workplace, Identity Groups and Conflicts, New Immigrants|

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