Building Parent-Professional Partnerships

What is Cultural Relevance in the area of Family Culture?

When you ask professionals to assist your family, you would like them to do things in ways that make sense for you. You should be aware that professionals might have little or no knowledge of your culture and traditions. The professionals are more effective when they understand your family culture and appreciate your family’s cultural differences. They particularly need this when they are deciding how to put your service package together. If they don’t, they may become puzzled why your family does not respond to services, or think your “buy-in” or cooperation is low. It then becomes important for the family to assist service providers by communicating family beliefs, norms and values to those service providers. This encourages culturally competent systems of care, which ensure that the community as well as the family determines service goals that are tailored to the specific population of the area.

The following are questions that will help the professionals get to know you and your family. You may want to answer them for yourselves, too:

• What do you like most about your child?
• What are your goals for your family and your children? – what life would look like if things were better?
• How does your family make decisions?
• What are your family’s biggest accomplishments?
• What makes your family happy? What does your family do for fun?
• What are your favorite family memories?
• What are your family’s special rules?
• Who are your friends, who do you call when you need help or want to talk, and who do you consider to be supportive?
• What are your family’s traditions or cultural events and how and when do you participate in, and how?
• What are special values or beliefs you learned from your parents or others?
• What are your connections (if any) to the faith community?

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