What best describes cultural humility compared to cultural competence?

• A. Cultural humility is ongoing self-reflection and learning; cultural competence is the possession of knowledge and skills about diverse cultures
• B. Cultural humility ends after training
• C. Cultural competence requires no ongoing learning
• D. Humility is about knowing everything

Answer: (A)

Cultural humility is an ongoing practice of self-reflection and learning that keeps you open to being taught by others and to recognizing and addressing power imbalances in interactions. This stance isn’t a one-time achievement but a continuous process of learning from patients, clients, or communities about their unique experiences and needs. In contrast, cultural competence is often described as possessing a certain body of knowledge, skills, and attitudes about different cultures, which can imply a final or fixed state.

So the best choice describes cultural humility as ongoing self-reflection and learning, while cultural competence is framed as having knowledge and skills about diverse cultures. The other options fall short because humility isn’t something that ends after training, it isn’t about no ongoing learning, and it isn’t about knowing everything.