Complexities of cultural difference in social care work in England

ABSTRACT

The ageing of the ethnic minority population in Britain has led to a more ethnically diverse older client group for social care services than has ever been the case. This article focuses on the issue of how social care staff in England experience working across differences of culture, ethnicity, religion, and language. First, the article critically discusses the concept of cultural competence. Then, it reports on the perspectives of social care staff on their attempts to work in a culturally competent way. Individual in-depth qualitative interviews were carried out with 39 social care practitioners, and thematically analysed. Themes related to professional competence, appropriate behaviour, and training needs. Some practitioners felt unable to perform to their accustomed skill level when working across diversity, which has implications for the quality of care provided and job satisfaction. Other practitioners were confident in working across diversity. The key difference between these practitioners was a degree of cultural reflexivity. Recommendations for training are provided.

KEYWORDS:

• Cultural competence
• staff development
• ethnicity
• culture
• diversity

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank the participants who volunteered their time and shared their experiences with us. We would also like to thank all the members of the advisory panel for their guidance, and the social services staff and members of the community who helped us to carry out this project.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Dr Rosalind Willis is an Associate Professor in Gerontology at the Centre for Research on Ageing, University of Southampton, England, where she teaches on the M.Sc. and Ph.D. in Gerontology programmes. Her research interests include care and support in later life, and mental health and ageing, particularly dementia. Much of her research has a focus on ethnic diversity.

Dr Pathik Pathak is a Principal Teaching Fellow in Sociology, Social Policy and Criminology at the University of Southampton, and Faculty Director of Social Enterprise within Social Sciences. He convenes the Sociology module Race and Ethnicity in Society. His research interests include a cross-cultural exploration of social entrepreneurship and discourses of employability in global higher education.

Professor Maria Evandrou is Head of the Department of Ageing/Gerontology within Social Sciences at the University of Southampton. Her research interests span three distinct but related areas of investigation: inequalities in later life, informal carers and employment, and the retirement prospects of future generations of elders. A unifying theme throughout much of her research is the use of a dynamic, life course perspective.

Dr Priya Khambhaita is Faculty Research Fellow within Health Sciences at the University of Southampton. Her interest and expertise are centred on the experiences of women, minority ethnic and lower socio-economic groups. She has studied these groups in relation to their access and experiences of social care and health, education and the labour market. Her research is focussed on both the UK and India.

Additional information

Funding

This paper presents independent research funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) School for Social Care Research (SSCR) [grant number T976 T11-017 USRW]. The views expressed are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the SSCR, the NHS, the NIHR or the Department of Health.