6210 Week 9 Discussion Response

Research Requirement:

According to section 1.05a of the NASW Code of Ethics, “social workers should obtain education about and demonstrate understanding of the nature of social diversity and oppression with respect to race, ethnicity, national origin, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, marital status, political belief, religion, immigration status, and mental or physical ability” (NASW, 2017). Social workers should present cultural competency and humility regarding clients’ religious beliefs (Zastrow et al., 2019). Similar to discussions about how a social worker should interact with a client of a different ethnicity or culture, social workers must put aside their personal beliefs in order to provide quality care to their clients (Zastrow et al., 2019).  This is something that will likely be more difficult than it will be easy, but it is an ethical responsibility that social workers must follow (NASW, 2017). One example of this would be a social worker working either in Hospice Care or the hospital setting. This social worker would need to support the spiritual and religious beliefs of the client when it comes to end-of-life decisions. This would include advocating for their religious ceremonies to be performed like last rites for Catholics and proper ancestral attire for Hmong culture (Her-Xiong & Schroepfer, 2018). Another example would be understanding end-of-life care for the Hmong community. Hmong culture believes in multiple souls. They believe that when a soul becomes frightened, sad, or lonely, it may leave the body. Hmong culture believes this causes the individual to become ill (Fadiman, 2012; Her-Xiong & Schroepfer, 2018). It would be essential to be sensitive to these beliefs when providing end-of-life care and the other cultural and spiritual beliefs of the Hmong community (Fadiman, 2012; Her-Xiong & Schroepfer, 2018; Zastrow et al., 2019). ).