| Abstrakt: |
This article discusses the cultural diversity among elderly Latinos in the U.S. Cultural diversity is a concept that embraces the multiple dimensions of human identity, biculturality, and culturally defined social behaviors. Culture and human behavior thus represent the constant and dynamic interplay between individuals and their environment. The knowledge, values and skills proposed in this framework only serve as a foundation for cultural intervention with elderly Latinos. Indeed, culturally competent practice is a personal and professional matter, one which requires each professional to embrace the concept of cultural diversity and to develop a practice framework that reflects their level of experience, comfort and familiarity. Culture represents a way of life that binds elderly Latinos together through their culture, language, nationally, values, beliefs, and practices that are considered appropriate and desirable. Ethnicity is an equally significant concept in the ecological perspective with multiple definitions and relevance to service providers. An assimilated, dominant English-speaking elderly Latino with a preference for the dominant culture and little attachment to their ancestral cultures may reflect a low level of ethnic distinctiveness. |
