Recently I had a great conversation with the hosts of the Counter Stories Podcast. I encourage you to listen to the whole thing, but I also want to recount part of the conversation here.
The hosts and I were talking about the work we do at Children’s Minnesota, how we are making our health system a more diverse, equitable and inclusive place for patients and families, staff and everyone else who walks through our doors. Co-host Don Eubanks,* a member of the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe, shared that he had recently found a new doctor, a young Hmong man, with whom he connected well.
Part of our work at Children’s Minnesota is building a staff that better reflects our diverse patient population. But at the same time, I agreed with Don that race does not always have to match race. The patient-provider relationship can be cross cultural as long as providers are hearing and valuing what patients have to say. In other words, as long there’s cultural humility.
The phrase “cultural humility” was not always a part of my vocabulary. Instead, I used to talk about and aim for cultural proficiency or competency. Then I realized no matter how hard you try, nobody can truly become proficient or competent in someone else’s culture, let alone all the different cultures that exist in Minnesota.
Cultural humility makes more sense. To me, it means approaching others with a willingness to admit my own biases and that I don’t know what I don’t know. Approaching others with a willingness to learn by practicing appreciative inquiry or asking questions from a humble and respectful standpoint. It means approaching people as individuals first, because no culture is a monolith.
Cultural humility means I don’t assume that my culture is better than anyone else’s. It also means I understand the importance of learning about other cultures, so it’s not always the burden of a person from that culture to constantly teach others. I have been that person, trying to do everything, fix everything, myself. I ended up being exhausted. And then when I left that job, the work and the relationships weren’t embedded in a sustainable system. When I left, the work went with me. If everybody is learning to engage with various communities, the work and the connections can continue. The work can then become systemic and transform culture, creating long-term sustainable strategies leading to sustainable outcomes. Cultural humility is not about immediate short-term fixes.
At Children’s Minnesota, we do a lot of equity coaching; teaching what questions to ask and how to solve problems. We put others in the game, so it’s not just me playing the game by myself. I’m not answering all the questions. I’ll listen first, then ask others what they think we should do.
I encourage other diversity, equity and inclusion leaders to do the same. Let other people do some heavy lifting. Let them make mistakes, so they can learn. We’re not where we want to be yet at Children’s Minnesota. I’m proud of our progress, but we’re still learning. And we know we’ll get where we want to go if we approach our patients, families, community and each other with cultural humility.
*I am sad to say that not long after we recorded our conversation for the Counter Stories Podcast, Don Eubanks passed away. But I’m so glad I had the chance to talk with Don that day about these important issues. Don contributed so much, in so many ways, toward moving our community to a better place. My deepest condolences to Don’s family and friends. He is missed. Rest with the ancestors, Don. Your magnificent work is done.
