Culture, Identity, and Assumptions in Person- and Family-Centered Care

Vocabulary flashcards summarizing key terms related to culture, identity, cultural humility, and person- and family-centered care in Communication Sciences and Disorders.

Culture

A shared system of values, beliefs, norms, and practices that shapes how people perceive the world and behave; dynamic, multi-layered, context-dependent, and applicable to everyone.

Identity

A socially constructed sense of self that includes race, ethnicity, language, gender, socioeconomic status, religion, disability, and more; fluid and intersecting across contexts.

Cultural Humility

A lifelong, reflective practice aimed at recognizing and addressing power imbalances through self-evaluation, learning from others, and fostering equity and mutual respect.

Lifelong Learning and Critical Self-Reflection

Continuous examination of one’s cultural identities, values, and biases; a core element of cultural humility.

Power Imbalance

Unequal distribution of authority between practitioner and client; must be acknowledged and mitigated to achieve equitable care.

Institutional Accountability

The responsibility of organizations to examine and reform structural inequities that marginalize clients, students, or communities.

Client-as-Expert Model

An approach that values clients’ lived experiences and treats them as experts on their own cultures, identities, and needs.

Person- and Family-Centered Care (PFCC)

A collaborative service-delivery model that honors individual and family preferences, values, and cultural backgrounds through respectful, shared decision-making.

Communication Sciences and Disorders (CSD)

The discipline that studies human communication and its disorders and trains speech-language pathologists (SLPs) and audiologists (AUDs).

Intersectionality

The interaction of multiple identities (e.g., bilingual, disabled, immigrant) that collectively influence access to services and therapeutic rapport.

Mythical Norm

The unspoken societal standard deemed ‘normal’ (often White, male, cisgender, able-bodied, middle-class) that upholds dominance and marginalizes others.

Reflective Practice

Structured self-examination methods (e.g., journaling, identity mapping) used to uncover biases and enhance culturally attuned care.

Clinical Assumptions

Unexamined beliefs—such as equating English proficiency with intelligence—that can lead to biased assessments and reduced family engagement.

Dialectal Difference

A culturally or regionally based language variation that should not be mistaken for a communication disorder.

Positionality

Awareness of one’s social and professional standing and how it shapes interactions, decisions, and power dynamics.

Anti-Bias Professional Development

Training focused on identifying and reducing prejudice and systemic inequities in clinical, educational, or research settings.

Equitable Assessment

Evaluation practices that consider cultural and linguistic diversity to prevent misdiagnosis or overdiagnosis.

Multilayered Culture

The concept that culture operates at personal, family, and community levels and adapts across contexts like home, school, and work.

Dominance and Subordination

Power dynamics in which certain identities hold authority (dominance) while others are marginalized (subordination).

Structural Inequities

Systemic barriers embedded in institutions that create unequal access to resources and opportunities for specific cultural groups.