Cultural Competency

Cultural Competency

Definition ● Philosophy ● Community ● Family ● Language ● Web-Based Trainings ● Resources ● Questions

Cultural and linguistic competence are a set of congruent behaviors, attitudes, and policies that come together in a system, agency, or among professionals which enables effective work in cross-cultural, bilingual situations. It is a developmental process that evolves over an extended period, where individuals and organizations are at various levels of awareness, knowledge, and skills along the cultural competence continuum.

Main areas include:

HIV health literacy among English and limited-English proficient populations
HIV health disparities by race, gender, age, sexuality, sexual orientation, national origin, religious and other beliefs
Stigma by race, gender, age, sexuality, sexual orientation, national origin, religious and other beliefs
Compliance with federal regulations, including Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, and the National Standards on Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services (CLAS Standards)
The Cultural Competency Continuum
The use of trained/licensed medical interpreters, and
The use of trained/licensed medical translators,

The HealthHIV Cultural Competency Program increases the capacity of health care and mental health care programs to design, implement, and evaluate culturally and linguistically competent service delivery systems to address growing diversity, persistent disparities, and to promote health equity.

HealthHIV training programs are designed to develop multicultural leaders who can assure and champion the health and well-being of vulnerable populations. Trainings build a healthcare workforce that can effectively provide services, design and evaluate programs, conduct research, develop and administer health policy, and provide leadership in health care within a diverse and multicultural society.

Cultural Competency: Definition and Conceptual Framework

Cultural competence requires that organizations:

Have a defined set of values and principles, and demonstrate behaviors, attitudes, policies and structures, that enable them to work effectively cross-culturally.
Have the capacity to (1) value diversity, (2) conduct self-assessment, (3) manage the dynamics of difference, (4) acquire and institutionalize cultural knowledge and (5) adapt to diversity and the cultural contexts of the communities they serve.
Incorporate the above in all aspects of policy making, administration, practice, service delivery, and systematically involve consumers, key stakeholders and communities.

Cultural competence is a developmental process evolving over an extended period. Individuals and organizations are at various levels of awareness, knowledge and skills along the cultural competence continuum.

Culturally Competent Guiding Values & Principles

Organizational

Systems and organizations must sanction, and in some cases mandate, the incorporation of cultural knowledge into policy making, infrastructure and practice.
Cultural competence embraces the principles of equal access and non-discriminatory practices in service delivery.

Practice & Service Design

Cultural competence is achieved by identifying and understanding the needs and help-seeking behaviors of individuals and families.
Culturally competent organizations design and implement services tailored, or matched, to the unique needs of individuals, children, families, organizations and communities served.
Practice is driven in service delivery systems by client preferred choices, not by culturally blind or culturally free interventions.
Culturally competent organizations have a service delivery model that recognizes mental health as an integral and inseparable aspect of primary health care.

Community Engagement

Cultural competence extends the concept of self-determination to the community.

Cultural competence involves working in conjunction with natural, informal support and helping networks within culturally diverse communities (e.g. neighborhood, civic and advocacy associations; local/neighborhood merchants and alliance groups; ethnic, social, and religious organizations; and spiritual leaders and healers).
Communities identify and determine their own needs.
Community members are full partners in decision making.
Communities should benefit from collaboration.
Community engagement should result in the reciprocal transfer of knowledge and skills among all collaborators and partners.

Family & Consumers

Family is defined differently by different cultures.
Family as defined by each culture is usually the primary system of support and preferred intervention.
Family and consumers are the ultimate decision makers for services and supports for their children and/or themselves.

Linguistic Competence: Definition

The capacity of an organization and its personnel to communicate effectively, and convey information in a manner which is easily understood by diverse audiences including persons of Limited English Proficiency (LEP), those who have low literacy skills or are not literate, individuals with disabilities, and those who are deaf or hard of hearing. Linguistic competency requires organizational and provider capacity to respond effectively to the health and mental health literacy needs of populations served. The organization must have policy, structures, practices, procedures, and dedicated resources to support this capacity.

Guiding Values and Principles for Language Access

Services and supports are delivered, free of charge, in the preferred language and/or mode of delivery of the population served.
Written materials are created, or adapted, not just translated, and/or provided in alternative formats based on the needs and preferences of the populations served.
Medical interpretation and translation services comply with all relevant federal, state, and local mandates governing language access.
Consumers are engaged in evaluation of language access and other communication services to ensure for quality and satisfaction.

Web-Based Trainings

Cultural Competency in Healthcare

Overview: This webinar examines the role an organization's leadership plays in addressing:

Title VI, and other Federal regulations targeting health care providers,
Health literacy,
HIV stigma,
Differences between "medical interpretation" and "medical translation,"
Cultural competency,
Barriers to care.

Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of this training participants will be able to:

Identify best practices to improve quality of services and decrease health disparities, and
Better understand the role culture plays in health care delivery.