Glossary of Terms & Further Reading / Growing in Responsive Care

Glossary of Terms

Module 1

Cultural humility: “a process that requires humility as individuals continually engage in self-reflection and self-critique as lifelong learners. To develop skills to check the power imbalances and assumptions that exist in the dynamics of physician-patient communication and to develop and maintain mutually respectful and dynamic partnerships with communities & individuals” (Tervalon & Murray-García,1998, 118)

Biases: the ways that our life experiences have shaped how we see and move through the world

Cultural competence: the process of learning about another culture and using that learning in our engagement with different communities

Power: the dynamic interaction of resources (e.g., money, land, social status, group affiliation, education) among people, that can be used to exert control or influence over a person or group of people

Power imbalance: when one party in a relationship has or is perceived to have more power over another party

Trauma-responsive: recognizing how past and present experiences are impacting a person's holistic health and behaviors and adapting care accordingly. Some examples of trauma-responsive actions are designing policies, practices, and interventions that decrease the likelihood of re-traumatization while promoting healing.

Cultural safety: an internal and external process of actively creating an environment and providing care that is physically, culturally, and psychologically safer for the patient/client

Module 2

Familismo: family centered care

Active listening: the process of actively paying attention, understanding, and integrating information shared by another person. Actions that facilitate active listening and engagement can include eye contact, nodding, adjusting one’s body, in addition to other nonverbal communication. It can also include regular pauses for feedback, clarification, and assessment of client response to what is being said. These actions are not prescriptive and must be applied in context. For instance, providers must consider clinical presentations such as psychosis, cultural preferences, etc. when determining whether maintaining eye contact is helpful or contraindicated. In these situations, active listening and observation will help guide providers toward clinically indicated actions that will increase patient-provider engagement and cultural safety.

Module 4

Trauma: a distressing experience or event that changes the way our neurobiology works

Secondary trauma: trauma responses resulting from exposure to other people’s traumatic circumstances or stories

Primarily affected person: an individual who directly experiences something traumatic

Complex trauma: the prolonged and repeated exposure to trauma, rather than trauma experienced by exposure to a singular event. Examples of complex trauma include ongoing situations, such as poverty, repeated abuse, or community violence.

ACEs: Adverse Childhood Experiences from the original Kaiser-Permanente study which included three primary categories: abuse (emotional, physical, or sexual); household challenges (intimate partner violence, substance abuse, mental illness, parental separation or divorce, or having an incarcerated family member); and neglect (emotional or physical)

Trauma-informed: awareness and understanding of how trauma exposure can influence and change perceptions, emotions, and behaviors

Hypervigilant: constantly looking for signals of danger; distracted, defensive

Polyvagal theory: a theory that explicates perceived safety in terms of neurological functioning and anatomy

Co-regulation: the reciprocal process between individuals that cues safety and optimizes homeostatic functioning

Module 6

Internal cultural landscape: how a person sees themself in relation to their cultural heritage, values, and histories

External cultural landscape: a person’sself-understanding in relation to their environment

Acculturation gap: “parent-youth mismatches in acculturation style, and parent-youth discrepancies in acculturation toward both mainstream and heritage cultures” (Lau et al., 2015)

Bentley, J. A., Wilson Owens, C., & Zeba Ahmed - Somali Community Services of Seattle. (2008, November 1). Somali Refugee Mental Health Cultural Profile - EthnoMed (M. Ali Roble, B. Chakofsky-Lewy, L. Boynton, A. Abdullahi, & S. Musa, Eds.). EthnoMed. https://ethnomed.org/resource/somali-refugee-mental-health-cultural-profile/

Cabassa, L. J., Zayas, L. H., & Hansen, M. C. (2006). Latino Adults’ access to mental health care: A review of Epidemiological studies. Administration and Policy in Mental Health and Mental Health Services Research, 33(3), 316–330.https://doi.org/10.1007/s10488-006-0040-8

Cervantes, R. C., Fisher, D. G., Padilla, A. M., & Napper, L. E. (2016). The Hispanic Stress Inventory Version 2: Improving the assessment of acculturation stress. Psychological Assessment, 28(5), 509–522. https://doi.org/10.1037%2Fpas0000200

Cha, D. (2003). Hmong concepts of American health. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203488034

Chen, Y., & Ramos-Olazagasti, M. A. (2022, July 27). Over One Third of Lower-income Latino Adults Living with Children Have Frequent Anxiety or Depressive Symptoms, and Most Do Not Receive Mental Health Services - Hispanic Research Center. Hispanic Research Center. https://www.hispanicresearchcenter.org/research-resources/over-one-third-of-lower-income-latino-adults-living-with-children-have-frequent-anxiety-or-depressive-symptoms-and-most-do-not-receive-mental-health-services/

Delphin-Rittmon, M. E., Boynton, E. S., Ortiz, J., Davidson, L., & Flanagan, E. H. (2021). The Organizational Multicultural Competence Assessment (OMCA): A tool to assess an organization’s multicultural competence and adherence to the National Standards for Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services in Health and Healthcare (the National CLAS Standards). Psychiatric Rehabilitation Journal, 44(2), 99–106.https://doi.org/10.1037/prj0000478

DeMars, G., & DeMars, G. (2024, March 27). ‘Outright insulting’: Minnesota agency comes under fire for poor Hmong translation. Sahan Journal.https://sahanjournal.com/health/hmong-translation-minnesota-department-of-human-services/

González-Guarda, R. M., Florom-Smith, A. L., & Thomas T. A. (2011). Syndemic model of substance abuse, intimate partner violence, HIV infection, and mental health among Hispanics. Public Health Nursing. 28(4). https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1525-1446.2010.00928.x

Kapke, T. L., & Gerdes, A. C. (2016). Latino Family participation in youth Mental Health Services: treatment retention, engagement, and response. Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review, 19(4), 329–351.https://doi.org/10.1007/s10567-016-0213-2

Linney, C., Ye, S., Redwood, S., Mohamed, A., Farah, A., Biddle, L., & Crawley, E. (2020). “Crazy person is crazy person. It doesn’t differentiate”: an exploration into Somali views of mental health and access to healthcare in an established UK Somali community. International Journal for Equity in Health, 19(1).https://doi.org/10.1186/s12939-020-01295-0

Lor, M., Rabago, D. & Backonja, M. (2020). “There are so many nuances . . . ”: Health care providers’ perspectives of pain communication with Hmong patients in primary care settings. Journal of Transcultural Nursing, 32(5), 575-582. https://doi.org/10.1177/1043659620959437

Lu, W., Todhunter-Reid, A., Mitsdarffer, M. L., Muñoz-Laboy, M., Yoon, A. S., & Xu, L. (2021). Barriers and Facilitators for Mental Health Service Use among Racial/Ethnic Minority Adolescents: A Systematic Review of literature. Frontiers in Public Health, 9.https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2021.641605

Minnesota Department of Health. (2023). Somali culture and foods. https://www.health.state.mn.us/docs/people/wic/localagency/culture/somali.pdf

Myerholtz, L., Roberts, C., Dew, K. R., McClester-Brown, M., & Castro, G. (2022). Interprofessional team-based learning to enhance behavioral health care for Latinx patients: Results of a teleconsultation program. Families Systems & Health, 40(4), 519–525. https://doi.org/10.1037/fsh0000741

Odunukan, O. W., Abdulai, R. M., Salaad, M. F. H., Lahr, B. D., Flynn, P. M., & Wieland, M. L. (2014). Provider and interpreter preferences among Somali women in a primary care setting. Journal of Primary Care & Community Health, 6(2), 105–110.https://doi.org/10.1177/2150131914552846

Vang, C., Sun, F., & Sangalang, C. C. (2021). Mental health among the Hmong population in the U.S.: A systematic review of the influence of cultural and social factors. Journal of Social Work, 21(4), 811-830. https://doi.org/10.1177/1468017320940644

Vega, W. A., Kolody, B., Aguilar-Gaxiola, S., Alderete, E., Catalano, R., & Carveo-Anduaga, J. (1998). Lifetime prevalence of DSM-III-R psychiatric disorders among urban and rural Mexican Americans in California. Archives of General Psychiatry, 55(9), 771–778. https://doi.org/10.1001/archpsyc.55.9.771

Xiong, P., Lor, M., Park, L. S., & Jacobs, E. A. (2023). How patients with limited English proficiency make health care decisions: Hmong Patients’ perspectives. In WMJ (Vol. 122, pp. 178–179). https://wmjonline.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/122/3/178.pdf

Xiong, Z. B., Her, M., & Yunizar, C. (2023). Parental Involvement with Children’s Schooling: Exploring the Experiences of Hmong Parents in Charter Schools. School Community Journal, 111–113. https://www.adi.org/journal/2023ss/XiongEtAlSS23.pdf

Books:

Fadiman, A. (1997). The spirit catches you and you fall down. Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

Finn, J. L. (2016). Just practice: A social justice approach to social work (4th ed.). Oxford.

Nieto, L. & Boyer, M. F. (2010). Beyond inclusion, beyond empowerment: A developmental strategy to liberate everyone (2nd ed.). Cuetzpalin Publishing.

Piepzna-Samarasinha, L. L. (2018). Care work: Dreaming disability Justice. Arsenal.

Links:

Partnering for Health with the Somali Community in Central Minnesota (video)