Eureka! Institutional Repository

Introduction: Today's society is a synthesis of diverse groups, which differ in their racial, ethnic and socio-economic background. The gradual increase of cultural differentiation as well as the need of different groups to live together and to communicate adequately, contributes to the development of intercultural communication. Aim: The purpose of this study was to research the readiness of health professionals to provide Intercultural care. Material and methods: The study population consisted of 120 health professionals, medical and nursing staff working in a Hospital of Northern Greece. The questionnaires were collected during the period May 3 to June 15, 2020. To investigate the readiness for intercultural care, a relevant questionnaire consisting of a total of 62 questions was selected, Cronbach’s internal relevance index in the individual dimensions ranged from 0.81 to 0.94. Results: 79.2% of the sample was women with a mean age of 43.59%. There seemed to be a statistically significant correlation between cultural exposure and the cultural self-efficacy of medical staff. In addition, the level of knowledge appeared to be related to gender, occupation, attending intercultural health seminars and the existence of multicultural social gatherings. At the level of comfort, the contributing factors are education, profession and the existence of social interactions with people of different cultural backgrounds. Finally, the degree of readiness of health professionals to provide intercultural health care is not very high. Conclusions: Intercultural care requires treating patients as individuals, taking into account their cultural needs. It requires health professionals to know, understand and identify the cultural factors associated with patient care and to practice accordingly. The integration of cultural content into health curricula is essential.