Key Topics & Issues

Organizational Cultural Competence

Improving the cultural and linguistic capacity of a health care organization.

• Leadership Development

  Educating managers, boards of directors, and other institutional leaders about the value of cultural and linguistic competence practices and encouraging them to support those practices. Developing leadership qualities in individuals and organizations in the cultural competence field.

• Patient Demographic Data

  Collecting and using race, ethnicity, and language data to plan, improve, and evaluate health services and to reduce health disparities.

• Workforce Diversity

  Training and recruiting to increase the diversity of health care organization staff and manage issues that arise in a multicultural work environment.

• Quality Improvement

  Linking cultural and linguistic competence practices to organizational quality initiatives.

• Community Engagement

  Working with patients, families, and community representatives to design, implement, and evaluate health care services.

• Organizational Assessments and Measurement

  Measuring and evaluating the cultural and linguistic competence of health care organizations.

• Organizational Plans Policies and Management Strategies

  Integrating cultural and linguistic competence into health care organization plans, policies, and management strategies.

Culturally Competent Care

Addressing cultural issues that arise in the delivery of individual and community-based health services.

• Clinical Interactions

  Addressing cultural and linguistic issues in the context of clinical interactions; patient-provider communication.

• Mental Health/Substance Abuse

  Issues and strategies related to behavioral health for diverse populations.

• Patient Education and Support

  Patient and family education, cultural support, and patient navigation within a health care institution that addresses cultural and linguistic issues.

• Community Education

  Health promotion, disease prevention, and community health worker programs for community outreach to culturally diverse populations.

• Patient Safety

  Cultural and linguistic issues relating to the reduction and prevention of inadvertent harm to patients as a result of their care.

• Care Management

  Coordinating services that addresses cultural and linguistic issues on behalf of a person within a health care institution or among several institutions. Includes medical home models.

Cultural Competence Training

Providing or gaining knowledge and improving skills to more effectively provide care to diverse populations.

• Health Professions School Programs

  Requirements, curricula, and other training tools for use in medical, nursing, and other formal health professions degree programs.

• Continuing Education

  Requirements, curricula, and other training tools for teaching cultural competence in work settings or other non-degree educational situations.

• Curricula Development

  Developing cultural competence training programs and courses of study in any setting.

• Assessment

  Evaluating cultural competence skills (pre- and post-training) and determining the need for cultural competence training in organizations. Evaluating the effectiveness of cultural competence training programs and curricula.

Language Access

Effective communication with individuals who have limited English proficiency and low literacy skills.

• Interpreter Practices and Training

  Standards of practice, codes of ethics, skills assessments, certification, training and other issues related to the practice of interpretation for health, including the effective use of bilingual employees.

• Language Services

  How to plan for, implement, manage, and evaluate interpreter or language service programs in organizations.

• Translation

  Methods for translating and developing written health materials in languages other than English.

• Health Literacy

  Developing health information for low-literacy individuals or communities, especially those where limited English proficiency is a concern.

• Language Needs Assessment

  Evaluating the need for interpreter and other language services in organizations and/or communities.

Policy

Laws, regulations, guidance, standards, accreditation requirements, and advocacy strategies related to cultural and linguistic competence. Includes analysis, reviews, and descriptions.

• National

  Federal laws, regulations, guidance, and policy tools.

• State

  State laws, regulations, guidance, and policy tools.

• Local

  Local laws, regulations, guidance, and policy tools.

• Accreditation Requirements

  Requirements for obtaining official accreditation or certification from accrediting organizations and maintaining compliance as it pertains to cultural and linguistic competence.

• Standards

  Standards and other binding and non-binding guidelines.

• Advocacy

  Promoting policies and practices that meet cultural and linguistic competence needs and reduce health care disparities.

Research

Systematic investigation into and study of materials related to the impact of culture and language on health behaviors and health care delivery.

• Methods and Management

  Systematic approaches and procedures for understanding and assessing culturally and linguistically appropriate services.

• Bibliographies

  Lists of publications related to cultural and linguistically appropriate services.

• Study Findings

  Data collected and conclusions reached as a result of inquiries, studies, or tests.

• Community-Based Participatory Research

  Studies and inquiries conducted as equal partnerships between academically trained experts and members of a community.