Cultural Competence: The Cultural Factor in Pain Management

Course overview

Health inequities in pain management are prevalent across different healthcare settings. The cultural, ethnic, and social differences influence patients and providers perceptions and responses to pain. Several studies report higher incidences of pain, disability, and suffering in women and people of color compared to non-Hispanic White people. This course covers influential sociocultural factors grouped into the patient, the provider, and systemic factors. This course helps healthcare professionals become familiar with cultural differences associated with pain perceptions and management. Pain variables such as culture, religion or ethnicity are not part of standardized pain scales. Healthcare workers need to provide culturally competent care to their patients by asking about specific practices, beliefs, and values regarding pain that impacts the patients quality of life. The goal of this course is to provide nurses, physicians, and social workers with an overview of cultural sensitivity in the management of pain.