Background Many patients especially from minority backgrounds are typically faced with cultural barriers during health care encounters and this hinders the delivery of culturally competent healthcare. This study seeks to understand how cultural barriers faced by patients are crucial in attaining the delivery of culturally competent healthcare. Aims   The aim of this study is to examine cultural barriers in the delivery of healthcare services from the  patient’s perspective. Method The method is a literature review based on qualitative primary research. Ten articles were selected from the CINAHL, PUBMED and Google scholar databases. All articles selected were published between 2010 and 2020. The quality of the articles used were assessed using a review template for qualitative studies. Data was analysed using the literature review matrix method.  Results The results suggest that four main cultural barriers from the perspectives of patients impacted healthcare delivery. These cultural barriers included the following; communication problems arising during verbal and nonverbal interactions, mistrust and discrimination arising as a result of previous contact with the health care system, socio-economic status and finally low propensity to seek healthcare.  Conclusion   To conclude it is evident that patients face a plethora of cultural barriers during their interactions with health care services and their experiences can be shaped by a number of variables and factors. These cultural challenges hinder accessibility to proper health care services might lead to inequality in the provision of health care services. / Bakgrund Många patienter, särskilt de med minoritetsbakgrund, står vanligtvis inför kulturella barriärer när de blir bemötta av hälso-och sjukvårdspersonal. Detta hindrar utformandet av kulturellt kompetent vård. Studien syftar till att förstå hur kulturella barriärer som patienter står inför är avgörande för att uppnå kulturellt kompetent omvårdnad. Mål Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka kulturella barriärer vid leverans av vårdtjänster ur patientens perspektiv. Metod Metoden är en litteraturstudie baserad på kvalitativ primär forskning.Tio artiklar valdes från databaserna CINAHL, PUBMED och Google. Alla utvalda artiklar är publicerade mellan 2010 och 2020. Kvaliteten på de artiklar som valdes är granskade med hjälp av en granskningsmall för kvalitativa studier. Data analyserades med hjälp av litteraturgranskning enligt en matrismetod. Resultat Analysen och resultaten från studien tyder på att fyra huvudsakliga kulturella barrier ur patientens perspektiv hade avgörande inverkan på bemötandet inom vården. Dessa kulturella barriärer inkluderade följande; kommunikationsproblem som uppstår under verbala och icke-verbala interaktionen, misstro och diskriminering till följd av tidigare kontakt med hälso- och sjukvården, socioekonomisk status och slutligen låg benägenhet att söka vård som är vanligt för människor med samma kulturella bakgrund. Slutsats Avslutningsvis är det uppenbart att patienter möter kulturella barriärer under sin interaktion med vården och deras erfarenheter kan formas av ett antal variabler och faktorer. Dessa kulturella utmaningar hindrar adekvat tillgång till hälso sjukvård och kan leda till ojämlikhet i tillgången till hälso- och sjukvårdstjänster.

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / Asian women have a lower risk than Caucasians, African Americans, and Latinas of developing breast cancer (BC). Yet, once Asians move to the U.S. their risk rates measurably increase. The Susan G. Komen® Tissue Bank at the IU Simon Cancer Center (KTB), the only biobank of its kind in the world, collects healthy breast tissue from women of all racial groups to use as controls in BC research. The KTB represents a critical tool in efforts to treat and prevent BC; however, Asian American (AA) women display marked reticence towards donating tissue to the KTB. The purpose of this study is to use the basic components of Grounded Practical Theory to explore potential messaging that may result in AAs’ more positive outlook on breast tissue donation. This study recruited seventeen (N=17) AA women to share their perspectives on donating breast tissue for research purposes. Participants took part in an interactive focus group exploring potential messaging for successfully recruiting AA women to the KTB study. Findings revealed that: a) participants retained a culturally-embedded discomfort with donating, and a general distrust that their donation would be handled ethically and appropriately; b) the women possessed an extraordinary need for knowledge about all facets of the donation process; c) participants perceived that they lack a personal connection to BC, making it difficult for them to generate any truly altruistic tendencies to perform the desired behavior, or to understand a need to do so; and d) they possess a strong desire to learn why it seems important to the KTB to collect their tissue, and especially about the increased BC rates and risk for Asians who move to or are born in the U.S. The findings from this study have important implications for others who work in applied clinical settings and are interested in addressing racial disparities in medical research through more effective and targeted recruitment messaging.

In the globalized economy, internationalization is necessary for companies to have a  competitive advantage to survive in the long term and Swedish companies are no exception. However, when Swedish companies enter Japan the cultural differences between the two countries are significant, which may create cultural barriers. There are few cross-cultural studies focusing on communication across cultural barriers that foreign companies face when entering the Japanese market. Also, the research is conducted from a one-way perspective, with less focus on the perspective of the Japanese counterparts. The purpose of this thesis is to identify what cultural barriers a company, with Sweden as the home country, has encountered under the internationalization process when entering Japan from both a Swedish and Japanese point of view. In the qualitative research approach, the empirical data was collected through semi-structured interviews with the employees in a Swedish company HMS Networks AB (HMS), which has internationalized to Japan and has a subsidiary HMS Industrial Networks K.K. in Japan (HMS Japan). These findings were also complemented with secondary data such as corporate websites and annual reports. The empirical data were analyzed into three steps: transcription, systematization, and combination. The results showed that HMS has faced internal and external cultural barriers during the internationalization of the Japanese market. The differences in work culture, language, business relationship created cultural barriers and influenced the communication within and outside of the company. There were more internal cultural barriers than external ones, which has decreased over time, resulting from Japanese society becoming more international and Swedish companies adapting appropriately to Japanese culture. This research thesis will be a tool for creating a deeper understanding and communication of two different cultures. First, language is the most significant cultural barrier to entering foreign markets. Therefore, it is crucial that the company itself provides an opportunity to learn a  language for employees. Second, it demonstrates the importance of deepening the understanding between the parties. International companies should not try to change foreign employees’ way of being but instead consider both cultures and implement a common foundation. Third, it is essential to keep in mind that it takes time to overcome cultural barriers.  Also, when a company internationalizes, cultural barriers may occur from both sides of countries, and they may be interpreted differently in the same situation. Thus, understanding how the other party interprets your culture is important, which will help to reduce cultural barriers.

Digital transformation has a significant impact on various areas of public sector organizations across the globe. While its most noticeable effect is proposed at the organizational level, digital transformation influences operational efficiency and performance. Digital transformation can enhance operational efficiency, for instance, by enabling accelerated decision-making processes through analytics and big data. Automation and improved business processes also contribute to operational efficiency. However, these organizations often encounter significant challenges in digital transformation, particularly cultural and structural barriers. While plenty of research is exploring digital transformation in private and public organizations, specific insights into the context of Swedish municipalities still need to be explored. Prior research has shown that digital transformation involves overcoming several barriers. In response to the research, this study aims to analyse the most impactful obstacles in digital transformation in public organizations: cultural and structural barriers within Swedish municipalities. The research strategy is a survey-based study involving semi-structured interviews with IT directors and managers from 14 municipalities undergoing digital transformation. The data collected was analysed using thematic analysis. The data analysis has identified a total of 19 barriers, with 11 being newly discovered and 8 reaffirmed from prior research literature and internal documents to achieve data triangulation. These findings provide a deeper understanding of these barriers, promoting the successful implementation of digital transformation strategies in the public sector.

In this thesis the activities of civic sector organisations (CSOs) in the field of foreign children's education in the Czech Republic and in the Netherlands are described. The aim is to analyze conditions which are in the field of foreign children's education in both countries, and methods and instruments which are used by CSOs. In the Netherlands there is a lot of experience with immigrants from all over the world so know how of Dutch CSOs can serve as an inspiration for Czech CSOs since in the CR there is lack of experience with immigrants. In both countries a qualitative research was done. The research was made on the basis of knowledge acquired in specialised literature. It includes semistructured interviews with CSOs members, and in the case of the Netherlands interviews with employees of two Dutch schools and with an expert on foreign children's education. In the research the information from CSOs websites were used and author's experience with volunteering for one of Czech CSO is used as well. Powered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org)

Bakgrund: Antalet immigrerade kvinnor i Sverige har ökat de senaste åren vilket utmanar barnmorskor i arbetet präglat av språkliga och kulturella barriärer. Dessa barriärer är för immigrerade kvinnor riskfaktorer för ojämlik vård samt högre morbiditet och mortalitet. Barnmorskan kan möjliggöra stödjande kommunikation genom bland annat tolkanvändning, kroppsspråk och närvaro. Kulturella barriärer kräver en för barnmorskan kulturmedveten och öppen inställning till kvinnan och hennes kulturella bakgrund. Syfte: Att beskriva barnmorskors erfarenheter av att stödja kvinnor under förlossning med språkliga och kulturella barriärer. Metod: En kvalitativ induktiv design har använts. Tolv enskilda, semistrukturerade intervjuer genomfördes. En manifest innehållsanalys användes. Resultat:  Fyra huvudkategorier frambringades ur empirin; barnmorskans erfarenheter av språkliga barriärer, barnmorskans erfarenheter av kulturella barriärer, barnmorskans svårigheter att ge vård på lika villkor och önskan för framtiden. Resultatet visade att språkliga barriärer utgjorde ett större hinder än kulturella barriärer i möten med immigrerade kvinnor samt att dessa barriärer försvårade bedrivandet av vård på lika villkor om de ej överbryggades. Stöd för kommunikation beskrevs vara bland annat tolkanvändning och kroppsspråk. En önskan yttrades kring utveckling av hjälpmedel för kommunikation samt implementering av kulturdoula i förlossningsvården. Slutsats: Språkliga barriärer uppges vara svårast att hantera men kommunikation möjliggörs genom tolkanvändning, kroppsspråk och hög närvaro på rummet. Kulturella barriärer beskrivs vara lättare att bemöta men fortsatt kvalitetsarbete krävs för att utveckla hälso- och sjukvårdspersonalens kulturkompetens. / Background: The amount of immigrant women in Sweden has increased which challenges midwives in work affected by linguistic and cultural barriers. These barriers are for immigrant women risk factors for unequal care and higher morbidity and mortality. The midwife can enable supportive communication by using interpreters, body language and by being present. Cultural barriers demand that the midwife is culturally aware and has an open mind towards the woman and her cultural background. Aim: To describe the experiences of midwives supporting women during childbirth with linguistic and cultural barriers. Method: A qualitative inductive design was used. Twelve individual, semistructured interviews were implemented. A manifest content analysis was used. Result: The result brought forth four main categories: the midwife´s experiences of linguistic barriers, the midwife´s experiences of cultural barriers, the midwife´s difficulties regarding equal care and desire for the future. The result showed that linguistic barriers were larger obstacles than cultural barriers in encounters with immigrant women and that these barriers make it difficult to offer equal care if not bridged.  Communication aids were described as using interpreters and body language. A desire was raised regarding developing preexisting tools for communication and implementing cultural bilingual doulas in birth care. Conclusion: Linguistic barriers are said to be the most difficult to manage but are enabled by using interpreters, body language and presence in the room. Cultural barriers are described as more easily managed but continuous quality management is required to develop the cultural competence of the health care staff.