One size fits few – moving from cultural incompetence to competence in health policy development

Both Australia and Canada are multicultural nations built on migration.  Whilst this diversity adds a richness to the everyday lives of citizens it also presents challenges for governments seeking to meet the needs of an increasingly diverse population.  Engaging citizens in the health policy process can help governments by generating directly relevant input about values, priorities, expectations and other practical matters.  When health policy makers engage with citizens of culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds a number of complexities arise, not the least of which is the skills required of the policy maker to ensure that citizen engagement is both efficient and effective for all concerned.   Cathy’s research addresses citizen engagement in the development of health policy and, taking the perspective of the health policy maker, asks whether paying more attention to cultural competence can enhance deliberative health policy development.

This presentation will focus on the results of Cathy’s research and will propose that ‘cultural competence’ is insufficient to the task.  Cathy will present a critical multicultural view and argue that contextual sensitivity is more important than a focus on the culture of individual citizens.