DOCversity™
DOCversity™
Wellness, Inclusion and Health Literacy with Cultural Humility
DOCversity is Dr. Finley’s signature approach of wellbeing for all
WELLNESS
There are multiple dimensions of wellness. By being active participants in preventive health, the path of promoting wellness is different for each person. This framework is not a “one size fits all”. It involves building the best version of our own wellbeing by having the flexibility to align our self-care needs with our sense of purpose. This holistic roadmap not only tends to the whole person but it can also inspire us as individuals and a community to reach our full wellness potential
Three Pillars of DOCversity™
INCLUSION
We each have diverse backgrounds and different social identities that intersect and shape how we view wellness. Having a sense of belonging is essential for the wellbeing of individuals and communities. To foster wellness, we should strive to appreciate those differences. Through this approach, we can achieve health equity as we are acknowledging that we each have unique needs.
HEALTH LITERACY
Health Literacy is both understanding health information and utilizing that information to support our wellbeing. Improving health literacy can lead to increased motivation to have a healthy lifestyle for everyone of all education levels. By emphasizing learning in wellness, we can empower individuals, communities and organizations to be more engaged in wellness.
Cultural Humility is the Foundation of DOCversity™
Cultural humility can be defined as a “life-long process of self-exploration and self-critique with a willingness to learn from others”. A person’s culture is constantly evolving and is shaped by their ethnic background, gender, sexual orientation, age, ability level, religion – just to name a few.
A key guiding principle of integrative medicine is “to treat the patient and not the illness”. In order to treat the patient, health and wellness professionals strive to understand the whole person. One way to do this is to build a relationship with our patients/clients which allows for the opportunity to learn about all of their health and wellness dimensions. Considering that we live and work in diverse communities, cultural humility is an essential approach in caring for the whole person.
When wellness and health professionals practice cultural humility, we self-reflect on our own culture and values. By learning from our patients, we show that we place a high value on patients’ expertise and knowledge about their health. As a result, cultural sensitivity is cultivated as we appreciate each other’s differences and individuality. This approach allows our patients to feel seen, heard and cared for in a trusted, non-judgmental way.