Bilingual Social Workers in Mental Health Service Provision: Cultural Competence, Language, and Work Experience

Abstract

Many agencies actively recruit bilingual social workers. This study presents the reactions of 10 Chinese bilingual social workers to the expectations and demands of their agencies. The study employed a qualitative design with a phenomenological approach. The participants’ responses provide insight into how they manage ethnic and cultural mental health issues in Chinese populations. This study aims to improve social service delivery for clients with limited English proficiency by identifying effective, culturally competent services. The findings suggest that when hiring bilingual social workers, it is just as important for them to be culturally competent as it is for them to be an ethnic or language match with the client base. Having all of these qualities will result in staff members who can provide more effective services by making accurate diagnoses and identifying appropriate treatment plans. In addition to employing bilingual social workers, it is important to maintain good supervision as this will allow supervisees to have a unique perspective on what is involved in providing effective delivery of services to clients with limited English proficiency. Implications for research, practice, and policy are discussed.

Cultural competence of pre-licensure nursing faculty

“…4.2 Differences in cultural competency scores based on demographic variables CC was not found to be related to demographic differences, which is consistent with Campinha-Bacote's (2006) model and theory (Liu, 2013;Truong, Paradies, & Priest, 2014). [16,27,28] Campinha-Bacote's theory is based on the idea that CC is a journey and an ongoing process rather than something that can be obtained through certain criteria or meeting specific requirements on a checklist.…”

“…[16,27,28] Campinha-Bacote's theory is based on the idea that CC is a journey and an ongoing process rather than something that can be obtained through certain criteria or meeting specific requirements on a checklist. [29,30] Part of the journey and ongoing process to CC is through education.…”

Educating Bilingual Social Workers for the Child Welfare Workforce

“…This puts an undue strain on SEB social workers who often begin their work without any specialized education or training around language use. Issues such as translating terminology or clinical concepts learned in English as well as understanding the impact on code switching (changing from one language to the other) has on client/worker relationship and worker's use of the bilingual self, are specialized skills not taught in most social work programs (Biever et al, 2002;Engstrom et al, 2009;Liu, 2013;Oliva, 2019).…”

Sosyal Hi̇zmet Uzmanlarinin Mesleki̇ Özelli̇kleri̇ne Göre Eği̇ti̇m Odağinda Kültürel Yetki̇nli̇kleri̇

“…Social workers should strive to learn a new language if several clients speak a different language for effective communication with the client in social work practices (Akbaş, 2019;NASW, 2015;Potocky, 2002). Many researches indicate that cultural barriers, such as limited language skills, may result in poor health conditions among immigrant groups, and therefore employing bilingual social workers in human service organizations is important to maintain good supervision and culture-specific health care interventions (Engstrom, Piedra and Min, 2009;Horevitz, Lawson and Chow, 2013;Liu, 2013).…”