This lesson on Cultural Diversity includes a complete training packet. Each in-service packet takes approximately one hour to complete and fully meets the Medicare in-service training requirements. As aides need training, you can make as many copies as you want - there's no restriction when used with aides assigned from your office location. Remember that Home Health Aides must have 12 hours of in-service training every year. LESSON OBJECTIVES Upon completion of this program, the home health aide will be able to: * Define what culture means * Name three different cultural groups * List three examples of how cultural beliefs of a patient might affect the role of the home health aide. OVERVIEW There is much discussion about cultural diversity in homecare. The extent of the discussion has mistakenly led to the idea that cultural diversity is a "politically correct" mixture of gender and race. Neither race nor gender represents a true culture. Cultural awareness is, and has always been, a key component in responding to and communicating with all different types of people. Nowhere is this more important that in health care. It is of utmost importance for home health aides to understand and recognize the diversity of cultural forces that surround them. In order to perform their roles effectively, they must be aware of some common cultural differences and develop a respect for those differences. Home is the primary place in which the patient and family live by their own cultural standards, so respect for those standards is even more important in homecare than in other areas of health care.