Cultural Competency Plan

2017-2021

Avery Bautz

Swk 227- Dr. Drewry

Mission:

I want to be able to help clients regardless of their race, ethnicity, sex, religion or belief system. I

want to push my client to be the best they can be. I want to advocate for social change and social

justice.

Vision:

Become a geriatric social worker and help promote well-being of the elderly population. I want

to be the best social worker I can be. Social work defined by NASW, “social work profession is

to enhance human well-being and help meet the basic human needs of all people, with particular

attention to the needs and empowerment of people who are vulnerable, oppressed, and living in

poverty. A historic and defining feature of social work is the profession's focus on individual

well-being in a social context and the well-being of society” (NASW Code of Ethics).

Introduction:

I have known I want to be a geriatric social work for five years now. After the death of

my great-grandpa I started working in a nursing home back in Dayton, Ohio. I was inspired by

the work that I saw done to my great- grandpa but knew I could not do the medical things. I

started researching what I could besides being a nurse and figured out what geriatric social

workers do. I fell in love with the staff and resident that I worked with and knew this was my

passion in life. I have realized some biases I have and that would affect my work. I have
considered way to deal with these bias in order to best help my clients. For example; one bias I

have is against people that are racist. Many elderly adults have strong views on race and will say

them freely. I need to remain professional and ethical in those situations in order to provide for

that client’s needs.

Cultural Competency Plan:

Looking forward through the next five years, I want to graduate with my masters and find a job

in Ohio that allows me to work with the elderly. I want to specialize in geriatrics in my graduate

program. In undergrad I have two minors, health and management and would like to gradate with

them. As of right now I am on track to graduate in 2020 with both of these minors. The first

thing I will do when looking for a job is to make sure they provide what is best for me and their

clients. I would make sure they have an ethic code I felt comfortable working with and that they

were excepting to all. I would make sure that they were cultural competent. “Cultural

competence is the ability to interact effectively with people of different cultures. In practice, both

individuals and organizations can be culturally competent. Culture must be considered at every

step of the Strategic Prevention Framework (SPF). “Culture” is a term that goes beyond just race

or ethnicity. It can also refer to such characteristics as age, gender, sexual orientation, disability,

religion, income level, education, geographical location, or profession” (Cultural Competence) .

There are some groups of people that I find it hard to work with but there are two that

stand out the most to me. One group is racist people. I have dealt with many residents at the

nursing home that did not want to sit by or receive services from the “colored” people at work. It

was very hard for me to look at those residents the same. I know that working in geriatrics I
would run across this problem in the future. Elderly people tend to be very stubborn and set in

their ways so I do not believe educating them would be beneficial. I think the best way to go

about it would be to explain what a nice, helpful individual that person can be or if it was another

resident I would explain how they could become friends. This way it would be a way of showing

that client their views are not always correct. This gives the person independence and a chance to

change their own views by themselves. If it was a co-worker I would take time to educate them

on whatever their bias they had against that certain race. If I did not know the answer I would

pose the question “why do you think/say that?” and then ask if they would like to research why

or how that stereotype/bias was created. If I noticed this co-worker acting on their biases I would

bring it to their attention a long with whoever was in a higher position than us. The second group

of people that I would find it hard to work with are people that abuse elderly. Many people do

not know how prevalent this truly is. There are many different forms of elderly abuse such as

physical, financial, and sexual. I really do not understand how you can take advantage of

someone that is so helpless. This would be extremely hard for me because if it was a co-worker I

would just report them to a higher authority, but if I noticed a family member it would be

different. I think in some situations it would be hard to determine if that family member was just

frustrated in that moment or if it was a constant reoccurrence. Also, it would be hard to involve

yourself into family matters and prove what you are accusing them of doing. I think the best way

to go about it is to talk to other family members or another worker that works with that client and

see if they have noticed similar behavior. If they say yes, explain what can be done and the

options we have to keep that client safe. If they say no, watch for more activity that proves your

claim. One way I can ensure I can give the best care to my clients is to educate myself on

different cultures. If I do not understand something I will ask appropriate questions and I will not
fear the unknown. I believe education is the best way to go about ignorance so I can help by

educating myself.

Conclusion:

It is my job as a social worker to promote my client’s well-being despite their race

ethnicity, sex religion or belief system. in word to this I need to be aware of my bias and either

change them or learn how to work around them in order to benefit my client. In five years, I hope

to be gradated with my masters in social work and specialized in geriatrics. My ideal work place

would be to work in a nursing home. I could and most likely will run across people that have bias

that I do not believe in and I will have to learn how to handle these situations. With this cultural

competency plan, it will be easier to navigate.

 Works Cited

Cultural Competence. (n.d.). Retrieved November 25, 2017, from

https://www.samhsa.gov/capt/applying-strategic-prevention/cultural-competence

NASW Code of Ethics. (n.d.). Retrieved November 25, 2017, from

https://www.socialworkers.org/About/Ethics/Code-of-Ethics/Code-of-Ethics-English