Ethical Inclusion of Cultural Competency and Health Disparities

Course overview

The expanding diversity of the United States presents health care practitioners, health care institutions, and policymakers with both possibilities and challenges in developing and delivering culturally competent services. Cultural competency is the capacity of practitioners and organizations to effectively satisfy the social, cultural, and linguistic needs of patients when delivering health care services. A culturally competent health care system can contribute to the reduction of racial and ethnic health disparities by enhancing health outcomes and service quality. This course provides relevant training on cultural competency and cross-cultural challenges to health workers and enacting policies that decrease administrative and language barriers to patient treatment are examples of initiatives to move the health care system toward these objectives.