Cultural Competency/Vulnerable Populations

Cultural Competency for Health Administration and Public Health is a clear and concise introduction to the topics and tools necessary for the application of cultural competency processes in various healthcare settings. the chapters offer an overview of demographic changes in the United States, as well as accreditation requirements and cultural competency, cultural nuances of specific groups, and a comprehensive review of the Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services (CLAS) Standards and beyond. Attention is also given to the associated costs, time, and skill sets associated with the p

Major changes are occurring in the United States population and the nation's health care institutions and delivery systems. Significant disparities in health status exist across population groups. But the health care enterprise, with all its integrated and disparate parts, has been slow to respond. Written by three nationally known scholars and experts, Diversity and Cultural Competence in Health Care: A Systems Approach is designed to provide health care students and professionals with a clear understanding of foundations, philosophies, and processes that strengthen diversity management, inclusion, and culturally competent care delivery. Focusing on current practice and health care policy, including the recently passed Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 (ACA), this textbook integrates strategic diversity management, self-reflective leadership, and the personal change process with culturally and linguistically appropriate care into a cohesive systems-oriented approach for health care professionals. The essentials of cultural competence and diversity management covered in this text will be helpful to a wide variety of students because they encompass principles and practices that can be realistically incorporated into the ongoing work of any health care field or organization. Each chapter contains learning objectives, summary, key terms, and review questions and activities designed to allow students to understand and explore concepts and practices identified throughout the text.

In the United States, some populations suffer from far greater disparities in health than others. Those disparities are caused not only by fundamental differences in health status across segments of the population, but also because of inequities in factors that impact health status, so-called determinants of health. Only part of an individual's health status depends on his or her behavior and choice; community-wide problems like poverty, unemployment, poor education, inadequate housing, poor public transportation, interpersonal violence, and decaying neighborhoods also contribute to health inequities, as well as the historic and ongoing interplay of structures, policies, and norms that shape lives. When these factors are not optimal in a community, it does not mean they are intractable: such inequities can be mitigated by social policies that can shape health in powerful ways. Communities in Action: Pathways to Health Equity seeks to delineate the causes of and the solutions to health inequities in the United States. This report focuses on what communities can do to promote health equity, what actions are needed by the many and varied stakeholders that are part of communities or support them, as well as the root causes and structural barriers that need to be overcome.

The second Edition of this forward-thinking text goes beyond the discussion of health disparities to highlight the importance of health equity. As the title suggests, Health Equity, Diversity and Inclusion: Contexts, Controversies, and Solutions helps the reader understand key social justice issues relevant to health disparities and/or health equity, taking the reader from the classroom to the real world to implement new solutions. The new Second Edition features: • Two new chapters: one on the impact of urban education on urban health and another covering the elderly and health equity •Updated and enhanced coverage on men’s health, demographic data, the importance of cultural proficiency, maternal mortality and Black women, and much more. • Current trends and movements, including the role of social media in the provision of health care information for improved health literacy; mass incarceration and criminal justice reform; and much more.

Enables clinicians to provide culturally sensitive treatment.

Racial and ethnic disparities in health care are known to reflect access to care and other issues that arise from differing socioeconomic conditions. There is, however, increasing evidence that even after such differences are accounted for, race and ethnicity remain significant predictors of the quality of health care received. In Unequal Treatment, a panel of experts documents this evidence and explores how persons of color experience the health care environment. The book examines how disparities in treatment may arise in health care systems and looks at aspects of the clinical encounter that may contribute to such disparities. Patients' and providers' attitudes, expectations, and behavior are analyzed. How to intervene? Unequal Treatment offers recommendations for improvements in medical care financing, allocation of care, availability of language translation, community-based care, and other arenas. The committee highlights the potential of cross-cultural education to improve provider-patient communication and offers a detailed look at how to integrate cross-cultural learning within the health professions. The book concludes with recommendations for data collection and research initiatives. Unequal Treatment will be vitally important to health care policymakers, administrators, providers, educators, and students as well as advocates for people of color.

The aging and evolving racial and ethnic composition of the U.S. population has the United States in the midst of a profound demographic shift and health care organizations face many issues as they move to address and adapt to this change. In their drive to adequately serve increasingly diverse communities, health care organizations are searching for approaches that will enable them to provide information and service to all persons, regardless of age, race, cultural background, or language skills, in a manner that facilitates understanding and use of that information to make appropriate health decisions. To better understand how the dynamic forces operating in health care today impact the delivery of services in a way that is health literate, culturally competent, and in an appropriate language for patients and their families, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine conducted a public workshop on the integration of health literacy, cultural competency, and language access services. Participants discussed skills and competencies needed for effective health communication, including health literacy, cultural competency, and language access services; interventions and strategies for integration; and differing perspectives such as providers and systems, patients and families, communities, and payers. This report summarizes the presentations and discussions from the workshop.