Closing the Gap: Cultural Perspectives on Family-Driven Care
The Technical Assistance Partnership is proud to announce a new paper on ethnic/racial cultural perspectives on family-driven care. This subject has not been addressed directly, yet many families in systems of care come from the four major ethnic/racial groups in the United States. This paper begins the discussion about the role of culture when working with families.
The paper addresses a number of questions: Is family-driven care a “universal concept” or does it apply only to certain ethnic/racial cultures? How do various cultures define family-driven care and family involvement? Is “family culture” incorporated into systems of care work?
This paper describes family-driven care from four cultural perspectives—the world views, beliefs, values, traditions, customs, and languages of Asian, Black, First Nations, and Latino families living in the United States. It also discusses the role and importance of incorporating family culture, as defined by families, in outreach to, engagement, and involvement of families in care. A member of each of the four ethnic/racial groups discusses these concepts from their personal world views.