Embracing Diversity: Crossing Barriers to Deliver Treatment to Everyone

Addiction is not limited to any one race, religion, creed, or lifestyle. Fortunately, neither are treatment and recovery services. Achieving long-term recovery is often dependent on finding personalized treatment and recovery services that meet the specific individual's cultural, religious, or lifestyle needs. This episode will look at how substance use is acceptable in some cultures and how this may create a barrier for individuals seeking treatment and recovery services, consider the importance of providing services that incorporate the specific needs of the individual, and examine how some treatment and recovery models may prove more effective for one group than another.

“Culture” has been defined as "the shared values, traditions, norms, customs, arts, history, folklore, and institutions of a group of people." Culture shapes how people see their world and structure their community and family life. A person's cultural affiliation often determines the person's values and attitudes about health issues, responses to messages, and even the use of alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs. Cultural competence refers to a set of academic and interpersonal skills that allow individuals to increase their understanding and appreciation of cultural differences and similarities within, among, and between groups. This requires a willingness and ability to draw on community-based values, traditions, and customs and to work with knowledgeable persons of and from the community in developing targeted interventions, communications, and other supports.

A culturally competent program is one that demonstrates sensitivity to and understanding of cultural differences in program design, implementation, and evaluation. Cultural responsiveness is important to recognizing multiple aspects of a client's identify, overcoming barriers to recovery or to participation in the counseling process, and addressing sources of stress that may contribute to substance abuse. Techniques include individualizing the counseling approach, avoiding assumptions, acting to build trust, and identifying issues that affect client recovery.