The Importance of
Establishing Cultural
Competency for Allied
Health Professionals
Health Professions Network
March 17, 2006
Denise Chapman-Winn PT PhD
OPEN
MINDED
HONEST
SHARE
UNIQUE
Five Things That
Make You Unique
DIVERSITY
DIVERSITY
• Diversity is "otherness," or those human
qualities that are different from our own and
outside the groups to which we belong, yet are
present in other individuals and groups
DIVERSITY
WHY??????
US AND DIVERSITY
DIVERSITY
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•
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•
•
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RACE
GENDER
SEXUAL ORIENTATION
DISABILITY
RELIGION
CULTURE
ECONOMIC STATUS
CULTURAL
COMPETENCY
CULTURAL COMPETENCY
• Definition of cultural competence
• "culture" refers to integrated patterns of human
behavior that include the language, thoughts,
communications, actions, customs, beliefs, values, and
institutions of racial, ethnic, religious or social groups
• "competence" implies having the capacity to function
effectively as an individual and an organization within
the context of the cultural beliefs, behaviors, and needs
presented by consumers and their communities
A set of congruent behaviors, attitudes, and
policies that come together in a system, agency,
or among professionals and enable that system,
agency or those professionals, to work
effectively in cross-cultural situations.*
WHY IS CULTURAL
COMPETENCY IMPORTANT?
When health care services are delivered without
regard for cultural differences, patients are at
risk for sub-optimal care. Patients may be unable
or unwilling to communicate their healthcare
needs in a culturally insensitive environment,
reducing the effectiveness of the healthcare
process. Understanding the fundamental
elements of culturally and linguistically
appropriate services is necessary when striving
for cultural competency in healthcare delivery
CULTURAL COMPENTENCY
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•
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Four Rationales for Cultural Competency in Healthcare
Delivery
To respond to demographic changes
To eliminate disparities in the health status of people of
diverse racial, ethnic, and cultural backgrounds
To improve the quality of healthcare services and health
outcomes
To gain a competitive edge in the healthcare market and
decrease the likelihood of liability/malpractice claims.
(HRSA BRIDGING CULTURES AND ENHANCING CARE-CONFERNCE
SUMMARY-MAY 2002)
CULTURAL COMPENTENCY
“In 2002, the IOM published a groundbreaking
report, titled Unequal Treatment: Confronting
Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Health Care,
which illuminated one of the most critical
health care challenges facing the United States.
The IOM’s findings that racial and ethnic
minorities receive lower-quality health care
than white people – even when insurance
status, income, age and severity of conditions
are comparable – for the first time gave
Evidence-based credence to the assertion that the
U.S. health care system is not color blind. The
report offered comprehensive evidence to an
uncomfortable reality – come people in the
United States were more likely to die from
cancer, heart disease, and diabetes simply
because of their race or ethnicity, not just
because they lace access to health care. The
report found:
CULTURAL COMPENTENCY
Members of minority groups are less likely than
whites to be given appropriate cardiac
medicines or undergo coronary bypass surgery;
Minorities are less likely than whites to receive
kidney dialysis or kidney transplants;
Minorities are less likely than whites to receive the
best diagnostic test or treatments for stroke or
cancer;
CULTURAL COMPENTENCY
Minorities are more likely to receive less desirable
treatments than whites.”
The IOM acknowledged that there are many
possible reasons for racial and ethnic
disparities in health care, including:
Cultural and language barriers
Time limitations imposed by the pressures of
clinical practice;
CULTURAL COMPENTENCY
A woeful lack of minority physicians who may
be more culturally sensitized to the needs of
their patients;
Conscious or subconscious biases, prejudices,
and negative racial stereotypes or perceptions
that affect the way providers deliver care.”
Addressing Racial and Ethnic Health Care Disparities
Where Do We Go From Here?
CULTURAL COMPENTENCY
Cultural
Incompetence
CULTURAL COMPENTENCY
Cultural Competency
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^
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Health Literacy
Can You Become
Culturally
Competent???
YES
NO
What Can You Do?????