Developing a Self-Assessment Toolfor Culturally - Office of Minority ...

2.1.6 Identifying Key Components of CLASSeveral characteristics or services emerged from the literature as important for healthcare agencies to be considered “culturally competent.” These key components for culturalcompetence (described below) provided the basis for adopting the MCOs study conceptualframework (with eight assessment domains) that is detailed in Section 2.2.Organizational Governance and Policy Development. To be considered “culturallycompetent,” health care organizations should have formal policies such as written missionstatements that specifically express a commitment to cultural diversity (Cross et al. 1989)and policies governing translation and interpretation services (The Asian and PacificIslander American Task Force [APIATF] 1997; National Public Health and HospitalInstitute [NPHHI] 1998). Community members should be recruited for policy-makingpositions, such as general oversite committees and task forces, and should be wellrepresented on new task forces that can be created to study, evaluate, and address issuesrelated to culturally appropriate care (Cross et al. 1989; Roberts et al. 1990). Strategicplanning committees and other decision-making bodies should be representative of thecommunity, in race and ethnicity, as well as other characteristics such as gender and age(APIATF 1997; National Latino Behavioral Health Workgroup [NLBHW] 1996;Washington State Department of Health 1998).Culturally Inclusive Health Care Environment and Practices. An importantstrategy for addressing the health care needs of culturally diverse populations is torecognize and learn about a patient’s perspective concerning illness (Randall-David 1989).Understanding cultural perceptions about disease is critical to effectively engagingindividuals in disease prevention and treatment activities (Frye 1993; Saint-Germain andLongman 1993). Also, providers’ understanding of cultural differences in familialrelationships and roles is often important for effective treatment plans (Ahn and Gilbert1992). Moreover, health care providers may collaborate with traditional healers to learnmore about patients’ use of traditional healing methods in an effort to provide moreculturally competent care (APIATF 1997; NLBHW 1996) and utilize practices that arerespectful of and responsive to patients’ cultural backgrounds, e.g, diverse religiousservices and facilities or dietary options available (NPHHI 1998).Also important for culturally competent care are providers’ awareness about theirown values and how they may bias interactions with individuals from different cultures(Dilworthanderson et al. 1993; Eliason 1993; May 1992). To improve patient care,providers are encouraged to assess their own beliefs and have knowledge of generalethnic, regional, and religious beliefs and practices before discussing health care issueswith patients (Price and Cordell 1994).COSMOS Corporation, December 2003 2-8