Question

What are the benefits of implementing programs to address cultural competency within a health care organization? What are the cost of not implementing such programs?

Answer 1

Ans) Cultural competence provides many benefits for healthcare professionals and healthcare organizations. Social benefits include increased mutual respect between healthcare workers and patients, increased trust, and promotion of patient responsibility and empowerment in their own healthcare.

- STEPS TO ACHIEVING CULTURAL COMPETENCE:

Maximizing diversity is the key to achieving organizational cultural competence. Organizations should:

Hire and promote minority healthcare workers.
Establish or strengthen existing programs aimed at minority leadership development.
Develop a system for community and patient feedback where individuals can express concerns about their care and treatment.
Gather information about patients’ language preferences, and ensure that patients have access to healthcare workers, and/or an interpreter, who speak their language.
Provide patients with health education materials and forms in different languages.
Establish an interpreter services program in healthcare facilities where there are significant patient populations with limited proficiency in English.
Institute a program that detects medical errors resulting from language barriers and other communication disparities.
Monitor racial and ethnic disparities using data, and institute quality improvement initiatives where needed.
Collect data on race/ethnicity and language preferences in order to better understand patient needs and improve care.