Cross at al. believed a culturally competent care system must rest on a set of assumptions about how services are best delivered to people of color. Cross called these assumptions ________.

Cross at al. believed a culturally competent care system must rest on a set of assumptions about how services are best delivered to people of color. Cross called these assumptions ________.

• A. benchmarks
• B. standards
• C. trade guidelines
• D. unifying values

Answer: (D)

The idea being tested is that culturally competent care rests on a shared set of beliefs about how services should be delivered to people of color. Cross and colleagues argued these beliefs act as unifying values—broad, ethically grounded assumptions that shape how care is provided, how policies are written, and how programs are designed to be fair, respectful, and responsive to cultural differences. These values guide everyday practice more fundamentally than routine targets or procedures. Benchmarks and standards refer to measurable targets or rules for performance, which describe what to achieve or how to perform, but they don’t capture the underlying beliefs about how care should be approached across cultures. Trade guidelines don’t fit the context of health care delivery to minority communities. The concept of unifying values best captures the idea of a shared, guiding set of assumptions that underlie all aspects of culturally competent care.

The idea being tested is that culturally competent care rests on a shared set of beliefs about how services should be delivered to people of color. Cross and colleagues argued these beliefs act as unifying values—broad, ethically grounded assumptions that shape how care is provided, how policies are written, and how programs are designed to be fair, respectful, and responsive to cultural differences. These values guide everyday practice more fundamentally than routine targets or procedures.

Benchmarks and standards refer to measurable targets or rules for performance, which describe what to achieve or how to perform, but they don’t capture the underlying beliefs about how care should be approached across cultures. Trade guidelines don’t fit the context of health care delivery to minority communities. The concept of unifying values best captures the idea of a shared, guiding set of assumptions that underlie all aspects of culturally competent care.