Table 1 Contents of the sessions

1. “What is Culture?”

-Different cultural dimensions and how these dimensions occur in our everyday life and in healthcare.

2. “Culture in me”

-Significance of being aware of one’s own cultural features in order to be able to understand others. How are our own cultural features constructed, and how are they seen in healthcare work?

-Why are cultural ‘facts’ or assumptions not applicable in patient care?

-Cultural pain. How do background and previous experiences affect pain interpretation?

-Cultural ‘cage’. How does it regulate our behaviour towards others?

3. “Communication”

-Personal space. How can it be communicated to others?

-What are our own communication features and challenges?

-How do cultural values affect our way of communicating?

-What is good and understandable communication with patients from different cultural backgrounds?

-What issues typically mess up or complicate the communication process?

4. “Meaning of conviction”

-What is our own attitude towards spiritualism? What can different attitudes mean in a healthcare context?

-Interaction between culture and religion. Does culture generate religion, or is it the other way around?

-How can we value a patient’s convictions and spirituality?

➔Introduction to a conversational model (opening model) that can be used to assess patients’ spiritual needs