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Cultural Humility as Behavior

Module 14: Ethics, Confidentiality, and Cultural Humility · Lesson 3 of 3

12 min Back to module

Story opener

Thursday, 4:40 p.m. A participant is sitting across from you, your supervisor wants three notes before you leave, and the answer you need is not in any binder on the shelf. This lesson is the part of the job nobody handed you in orientation.

Learning objectives

  • Be able to ask about explanatory models and decision-makers
  • Be able to use professional interpreters, not relatives

Lesson

Humility is a practice, not a training certificate.

Ask how the participant and their family understand what is happening, what has helped before, and who should be involved in decisions. Use interpreters, not family members, for clinical communication.

Notice when your plan assumes a mainstream default: nuclear family, car ownership, weekday availability, individual decision-making. Adjust the plan, not the person.

Maryland guidance & authority labels

Every statement below is labeled so you know what is binding regulation, what is only proposed, what is professional guidance, and what is our house standard.

  • PRA guidance

    PRA's code of ethics centers dignity, self-determination, competence, and honesty in documentation and billing.

  • COMAR — current

    Confidentiality obligations under HIPAA and Maryland law apply to community settings — including who can see a participant's file in your car.

Common mistakes

  • Describing what you did without describing what the participant did.

    Do this instead — Record the intervention and the participant's observable response to it.

  • Treating regulation as a filing chore separate from practice.

    Do this instead — Let the required elements shape the session itself, so documentation writes itself.

Practical examples

Practical example

Instead of 'met with participant to discuss goals,' write: 'Reviewed the transportation objective; participant identified the #22 route unassisted and named one back-up plan. Verbal prompt needed once. Next session: practice the transfer at Mondawmin.'

Key takeaways

  • Ask about explanatory models and decision-makers
  • Use professional interpreters, not relatives

Reflection prompts

  1. 1Which part of this lesson describes something you are already doing differently in practice?
  2. 2What would an auditor see in your last five notes that contradicts this standard?

Bring your answers to supervision — the case-study workspace in this module saves written notes to your account.

Knowledge check

4 questions drawn from a bank of 7 · 75% to pass · instant feedback on every answer

1. How should you treat this statement? "Confidentiality obligations under HIPAA and Maryland law apply to community settings — including who can see a participant's file in your car."

2. Which additional point does "Cultural Humility as Behavior" emphasize?

3. Cultural humility in a rehabilitation plan looks like:

4. How should you treat this statement? "PRA's code of ethics centers dignity, self-determination, competence, and honesty in documentation and billing."

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