Society is motley. It is therefore all the more important to create culturally sensitive living spaces in the care sector, because around one in four citizens in Germany has a migration background.

One of the biggest hurdles in nursing is communication between the person in need of care and the nursing staff. Further background knowledge about the respective culture, religion, nutrition and everyday behavior also helps to make the encounters appreciative.

Cultural sensitivity checklist

  • You use the first meeting with the relatives to build trust and think about what you would like to know about the country and the culture of the person you are caring for.
  • In some cultures, it is common for those in need of care to be cared for by relatives. They clarify whether a kind of division of labor is possible and what care proportion by nursing professionals and what relatives take on
  • They use same-sex carers to provide care, who at best speak the native language of the person in need of care.
  • They have background knowledge, for example that personal hygiene for Muslims is not only of hygienic but also of ritual importance.
  • They take into account that pain is also expressed differently in different cultures. The spectrum ranges from the uncomplaining yield of pain to expressive expressions of pain.
  • The dietary rules and forbidden foods are mostly based on religious dietary regulations. You can find this out, for example, in consultation with the relatives.
  • They take into account the different eating habits, for example rice and soup dishes for people from the Asian cultural area, while bread should not be missing from meals in the European area.
  • In some cases, relatives bring the food to the care facilities with them. You agree with them which meals are to be replaced and when the in-house meals should be offered.

Technical aids for language translation come in the form of numerous smartphone apps with two-way translation in more than 50 languages. Not only your own messages are translated here, but also the replies of the other person.