Developing Cultural Competency (IN: Living With Grief: who we are, how we Grieve, edited by K J Doka & J D Davidson)

This chapter presents information to help caregivers add to their own knowledge & gain skills in working with people from diverse backgrounds. Developing cultural competency requires the ability to listen & gather information. The key to accommodating cultural diversity is to: understand one’s own attitudes, beliefs, & practices toward death, dying & bereavement; learn to listen to language; gather information about particular sources of comfort; & know about resources. The Barret Inferential Model (1995), which points out that even within cultural groups there is tremendous diversity, is briefly discussed.