Herzfeld Rehabilitation Hospital in Gedera has begun a process of cultural competence and we’re proud to be part of it. You can read more about our first meeting, here. The hospital belongs to the Clalit Health Services and specializes in the care, support and rehabilitation of elderly patients, and for those with complex medical conditions. We’ve delivered two workshops at the hospital, and the tools and principles of cultural competency that included in the workshops were specially adapted for the needs of the hospital. Communication at the hospital takes place not only with the patients but also with their families, guardians, and caregivers, often patients’ foreign caregivers who stay alongside the patients.
A second cultural competency workshop at the Herzfeld Geriatric Hospital
About 40 employees from all professions and cultural identities participated in the workshops, the second of which took place on December 23, 2019. In the accepting atmosphere of the workshop, the different caregiving professionals shared their experiences and dilemmas. One participant shared the process with the family whose young son was on a respirator in the hospital. The father, a dominant figure in the family, who is also the guardian, is very worried about his son but sometimes his involvement can hurt the son’s treatment. The other family members cannot challenge the authority of the father, who is also the head of the clan. Sensitive and creative ways were needed to keep the son without hurting the father.
Another issue was, how do we deal both with the need for patients to rest, and with the fact that different cultural traditions encourage visits from friends and family during visiting hours? How can we How to overcome religious, cultural and gender conflicts in the food that is served at the hospital?
Learning through real-life examples
And one of the cases that made us most emotional – the daughter of an elderly Ethiopian patient, who is determined to comply with her mother’s demand not to amputate her leg, even if it costs her her life. The need to respect the mother’s wishes at all costs, which was met with a patronizing attitude from one of the professionals. The daughter was torn between different cultural values - respect for her mother’s wishes, respect for medical authority, difficulty in directly challenging authority figures, and a loss of faith in the system.
This story served as the basis for our practice session, with experienced medical actress Hanin Tarbia, who has been working with the JICC for a decade.
Here’s feedback we received from the hospital administration:
We would like to acknowledge the great privilege that we have had in participating in the fascinating workshop you delivered today to the staff of the Herzfeld Geriatric Hospital. The workshop was instructive, enlightening, empowering and very interesting. Your easy-to-understand language, the accessibility of the tools you taught and your vast amount of knowledge, alongside your extraordinary sensitivity and humor, will accompany us and all the participants of the workshop!
The participants felt comfortable participating and sharing and expressed a great deal of interest in this important topic, and were thirsty for the large amount of information they received.
We, too, at the JICC hope that we helped the hospital establish the foundations for a meaningful process of assimilating the principles of cultural competency at the hospital. There is no doubt that the dedicated staff who participated in the workshop can serve as ambassadors for assimilating tools and principles of cultural competence in the hospital.
Many thanks to Herzfeld Medical Center for organizing the workshop.
