Cultural Intersections

Strengthing Relationships between parents and service providers during the holidays

Cultural and religious beliefs play a pivotal role in shaping family dynamics. These beliefs become even more prominent during the holiday season, when traditions, rituals, and values are emphasized. For many families, holidays serve as a time to celebrate their cultural heritage and religious practices while passing on important values to their children. These traditions, whether they focus on fostering independence or strengthening family bonds, significantly influence how parents interact with their children and guide their development. For children with special needs, the way families engage with cultural and religious practices can impact everything from daily routines to how they advocate for care. During the holidays, these values take center stage, highlighting the importance of honoring family traditions while navigating the unique needs of their child.

Understanding the cultural context becomes essential for providers who are supporting these families, as the holidays often bring additional layers of complexity to caregiving and decision-making. When families and healthcare providers effectively communicate, the outcomes of individualized care for children with special needs significantly improve. For diverse teams, communication can become more complex as language barriers, differing communication styles, and even conflicting cultural norms can affect how parents express their preferences. These

challenges may impact decisions about treatments and care, creating a gap in understanding between families and providers. Unfortunately, many families may struggle to access culturally responsive care that is tailored to be sensitive to their unique beliefs and practices. This lack of culturally responsive care can limit the ability of parents to advocate fully for their child’s needs, leading to missed opportunities for the most effective treatments

Parents have the right to share their cultural and religious beliefs with healthcare providers. Through these discussions, cultural competence, which involves understanding, respecting, and communicating with individuals from diverse backgrounds, leads to positive treatment outcomes. By facilitating open, respectful communication, families and providers can work together to ensure that children with special needs receive the care that aligns with their cultural and religious values.

Strategies for Communicating Beliefs to Providers

Effective communication between parents and providers is essential when it comes to ensuring that a child’s care aligns with cultural and religious beliefs. One of the first steps for parents is preparing for these conversations by identifying key beliefs and practices that are most important to their family. This may involve reflecting on how cultural or religious values influence daily routines, dietary preferences, or medical decisions. When it comes to the busyness of the holidays, parents can ask themselves what beliefs, traditions and values are negotiable, and which are non-negotiable? For instance, maybe your family’s non-negotiable is that the entire family have lunch on Thanksgiving Day together, but identify that it can be moved to your house rather than always being at your grandmother’s house. Have these discussions with your family as holidays approach so those non-negotiable values and traditions can be determined and integrated.

Using clear and specific language is another important strategy when communicating with providers. It helps providers understand parents’ wishes when they articulate their beliefs and practices in a way that directly relates to their child’s care. Personal stories are especially powerful, as they help providers understand the lived experiences of your family and how these beliefs influence daily routines. For example, sharing a story about how holiday traditions impact your child’s schedule can help clarify the need for flexibility during certain times of the year. 

Being open to dialogue with providers is equally important. Providers may not always be familiar with specific cultural or religious practices, so it’s helpful to encourage them to ask questions. This dialogue allows parents and providers to discuss how these beliefs influence both short- and long-term treatment goals. Whether it’s adjusting therapy sessions during a religious fast or days without electronics, open conversations foster a deeper understanding of family needs in the therapeutic relationship.

Just because it is the holiday season, does not mean that your child’s medical services stop. Reviewing the child’s treatment plan in advance allows you as the parents to pinpoint areas where you may need clarification or adjustments to ensure the plan respects your beliefs. Asking questions and advocating for these needs upfront helps ensure the treatment is as effective and inclusive as possible.

How Family Culture May Impact Medical Treatment

Parenting styles, which are often deeply influenced by cultural beliefs, also play a significant role in treatment. Some cultures may emphasize a more communal approach to caregiving, while others might prioritize independence and self-reliance. During the holiday season, there are multiple examples of cultural and religious practices that can impact a child’s treatment plan. Dietary restrictions are one such area, with some families adhering to kosher, halal, or vegetarian diets based on religious or cultural traditions. Healthcare providers can ensure the child receives appropriate meals, reinforcers, and snacks based on these needs. In the example above regarding Thanksgiving, healthcare providers may need to incorporate goals to address trying new foods, tolerating large gatherings, and even tolerating different decorations. Another consideration is the observance of religious holidays, such as Ramadan, Christmas, or Diwali. These holidays are often a time of spiritual reflection, family gatherings, and rituals that can affect treatment schedules. Providers should support religious observances that could influence therapy times or energy levels, especially during periods of fasting or extensive celebration.

Building a culturally responsive treatment environment goes beyond simply making schedule adjustments—it requires providers to integrate cultural awareness into the core of their practice. Staff training on cultural competence can equip providers with the knowledge and sensitivity needed to respect diverse cultural and religious beliefs. Some providers may even incorporate family rituals into therapy sessions, such as including a goal that aligns with the family’s religious practices. For example, a therapy goal could be shaped around helping a child learn to sit on a prayer rug during daily prayers, honoring the family’s commitment to their faith.

In some instances, simple communication tools and resources foster cultural understanding. The use of interpreters or cultural liaisons can bridge language barriers, ensuring that both parents and providers fully understand each other. Additionally, providing written materials in multiple languages or offering resources that reflect the family’s cultural background helps make treatment more accessible and effective.

Providing families with care that considers their culture can improve the outcome of treatments and reduce healthcare disparities. One of our main goals when delivering Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) services should be providing individualized treatments, as these types of treatments support better and longer lasting outcomes. Because treatments are adjusted for the child’s environment, including cultural and religious beliefs, the skills taught will last longer simply because they are naturally occurring. When parents feel empowered to share their values and healthcare teams are willing to listen and adapt, treatment becomes more personalized, inclusive, and effective. This collaboration not only improves quality of life for the child but also strengthens the trust between families and providers, creating a supportive environment for all. Through ongoing dialogue, culturally responsive care can become a vital part of the healthcare experience, benefiting both families and the professionals who serve them giving us all something to be thankful for!

ABOUT AUTHOR:

Holly is the Director of Ethical Compliance at [PBS Corp] (https://www.teampbs.com/). and an instructor at Capella University. She is a certified behavior analyst with over a decade of experience in various populations

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This post originally appeared on our November/December 2024 Magazine