Recognizing the Mosaic Within: Exploring cultural Humility and Intersectionality

This year’s Multicultural Awareness Conference entitled: “Recognizing the Mosaic Within: Exploring cultural Humility and Intersectionality” was held on May 23, 2019 at Hofstra University’s Sondra and David S. Mack Student Center.

The keynote presentation was given by Martine Hackett, MPH, PhD and was entitled “Implementing Cultural Humility: Background and Best Practices.” A relatively new concept to some individuals, Dr. Hackett explained that Cultural Humility goes further than Cultural Competency. An individual striving to be culturally humble admits they do not know “everything” and continually checks that the power balance between provider and client is equal; no one has more or less than the other. Dr. Hackett also shared the benefits of Cultural Humility such as improved health outcomes, increased client-provider trust and increased community inclusion. Barriers to care are often decreased as are care disparities.

Following the keynote were two panel discussions. Our first panel “Moving Towards Cultural Humility” was comprised of individuals sharing their lived experiences about their treatment in the medical and mental health field. Several common themes arose such as implicit bias based on their gender, their age or their “issue”. The panelist had similar experiences as being treated as a number and not as a person. Often the panelists were told to “get over” their issues, or not talked to directly, or even immediately dismissed. One of the most prominent take away messages was the fact a person needs to be a self-advocate (or find someone to help them advocate) and not a passive participant in their treatment. Finding a provider who sees people as their whole self, and doesn’t try to box them into categories was also stressed.

To second panel followed was entitled “Practicing Cultural Humility” and was comprised of practitioners who were incorporating culturally humble work into their every day practices. This panel spoke about going beyond simply having a bilingual staff member available, but included changing the mindset of the agency or medical practice. This was done by establishing trust with clients by meeting them where they were and not expecting clients to do more than they were capable of without giving them the proper tools. Exploring different behaviors before jumping to diagnoses were key points when establishing trust with clients. Panelists also shared that in order to practice cultural humility they needed to recognize their own bias and choose whether to accept it or disregard it. Lastly, maintaining a safe environment, and recognizing the person as a multifaceted individual with many layers was the last key point the panel stressed.

With over 100 people in attendance, the feedback from attendees was overwhelmingly positive. The engaging presenters held the attention of everyone until conference came to an end, with many lingering after to ask follow up questions of our keynote and panelists. It became clear this while cultural humility was a new topic to some, it would quickly become further explored by everyone.

Please enjoy some pictures from the day!
(Click for a larger version)

Thank you to our Keynote Presenter and Panelists:

Martine Hackett, MPH, PhD (keynote and moderator), Keith Scott, MA (moderator), Henry Dennis,
Liz Osowiecki, Juli Grey-Owens, Kelly Rose,
Josh Hanson, Cheryl Keshner, George Wurzer III, LCSW, and Saadia Z. Yunus, MA, LMFT.

Thank you to the 2019 Nassau County
Multicultural Awareness Committee:

Claudia Boyle, Martine Hackett, David Hymowitz, Adrienne LoPresti, Yvonne Lyon, Sue McKenna,
Jeffrey McQueen, Christopher Napoli, Rachel Priest, Anthony Santella, Keith Scott and Themina Tirmizi

About the Committee and the Sponsors: The 2019 Nassau County Multicultural Committee is a diverse body of service providers and other vested stakeholder that are organized for community action and creating system change within the behavioral health system. The Committee has been working together to bring new ways to help further embrace multiculturalism in our community.

This conference was Sponsored by the Nassau County Department of Human Services, Office of Mental Health, Chemical Dependency & Developmental Disabilities Services’ Behavioral Awareness Training & Education and the Mental Health Association of Nassau County, and cosponsored by the Office of Professional Development Services’ School of Education at Hofstra University.

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