Intercultural Communication for Adaptive Emergency Medicine Workshop

This full-day, in-person workshop addresses the first pillar of ACEM’s new Equity and Inclusion Strategy and Action Plan, which calls for greater intercultural adaptation in emergency medicine.

Inclusion Committee Deputy Chair Dr Bhushan Joshi and ACEM Equity and Inclusion Lead Dr Barb West will explore the developmental approach to adapting communication and behaviour to deliver equitable healthcare.

The co-presenters will draw on their combined expertise in emergency medicine practice and intercultural communication to help participants recognise and adapt to cultural differences – the largely unconscious logic frameworks for communication and other behaviour that humans use in our interactions.

Can you currently answer these questions about your patients, trainees or colleagues:

• Does this person prefer linear or circular communication?
• Are they acting from a more universal approach to rules or a more situational one?

Differences in these frameworks (and many more) lead to frustration, miscommunication, inaction and burnout for patients, colleagues, trainees and even you.

Prior to the session, all participants must complete a 15-minute training needs analysis, the Intercultural Development Inventory, the best empirical measure of ‘intercultural sensitivity’ available. The session will then be designed specifically for session participants’ developmental needs.

Participants will acquire greater understanding of their own and others’ frameworks, and skills in being able to adapt to others’ expectations and needs to provide for truly equitable patient-centred care (and trainee-centred training) in the ED.

There is also an optional individual feedback session on your own Inventory profiles that you can schedule after the group workshop. This can be done face to face or virtually.

Skills: 

Taking part in this workshop will enable you to develop the ability to: 

• Recognise your own and others’ dominant communication styles – both how we present information and how our ears and brain expect to receive it.
• Adapt more purposefully, both to how you listen and how you speak with people.
• Recognise dominant logic frameworks that lead us to believe one course of action is more moral, more effective or just generally better than another.
• Adapt more purposefully to others and provide effective guidance to others who need to adapt their own behaviour.
• Participants can also receive their own individual inventory feedback – allowing them to receive growth outcomes in providing equitable care for all.

This event is relevant to all emergency care providers – Fellows, trainees, nurses, and allied health professionals. All are welcome to attend.

Everybody is encouraged to attend this workshop as we strive towards a more equitable and inclusive future for our specialty.