Providing Culturally Appropriate Health Care in the Haitian Context

By Bryan Schaaf on Tuesday, January 1, 2008.
see more topics in:

paul farmer examining a patientPaul Farmer examining a patientI recently came across a document I wrote years ago as part of a training for ex-pat health workers at the Hopital Justinien in Cap Haitian.  It concerns how to provide health services to Haitians.  I wrote it for two reasons.  First, cultural misunderstandings in a medical context can have serious consequences.  Second, I was bothered when I would sometimes hear expat health care providers complain about how hard it was to work with Haitians - as if there were something wrong with them.  Quite the contrary.  To be an effective provider, one has to know his/her own culture as well as that of the patient.

You can find the file attached to this blog.  Welcome your thoughts on health care in Haiti and for Haitians abroad.  

AttachmentSize
Culturally Competent Care for Haitians.doc51 KB

Cultural competency

I wish this document was a prequisite for every visitor to Haiti - medical or not. Cultural competency is paramount to effective service of any kind. I am a RPCV from Haiti, and my hubby is Haitian - I think you're right on the money with your description of the Haitian context. Even with my background in cultural anthropology, I struggled with ethnocentrism that caused too much idealogical fumbling, while trying to get things started in my site. (Let me assure you, I wasn't the only one) I wish I would have developed a profound sense of cultural competency before my service even began. To add truth and controversy -I wish I spent more time developing this approach rather than obsessions with appropriate technology and other things of that nature, which just turned me into a sort of girl scout camped out in Haiti, rather than an effective service provider. Thanks for the document, I will be referring to it for future endeavors in Haiti!

Post new comment

Please solve the math problem above and type in the result. e.g. for 1+1, type 2.
The content of this field is kept private and will not be shown publicly.