Recorded presentation

Stergios T. Roussos, PHD, MPH¹, David Campa, MD, MPH², Jim McDiarmid, PHD³, Lisa Baladad², and Danette Flores, BS². (1) Akouo, 2054 Pinehurst Court, Merced, CA 95340, 209-723-4399, steve@akouo.org, (2) Golden Valley Health Centers, 737 West Childs Avenue, Merced, CA 95340, (3) Mercy Medical Center Merced, 315 E 13th St, Merced, CA 95340

Barriers due to socioeconomic status, race, ethnicity, and language can increase exclusion from health programs, delays or denials of services, and ultimately poorer healthcare and health outcomes. The US Office of Minority Health standards for culturally and linguistically appropriate services (CLAS) in healthcare represent the most comprehensive and respected metric available to assess and guide organizations in the development of their cultural competence. This presentation outlines how the CLAS standards were used to develop and frame the findings of an assessment of environmental and staff cultural competency in a community healthcare network. An organizational survey, key informant interviews, observational checklist, and discussion groups were used to evaluate the progress of staff and organizational practices and policies based on the CLAS standards related to clinical care, organizational structures, policies and processes. Cumulative findings showed the organization was in line with most of the 14 CLAS standards. Strengths included use of bilingual staff for healthcare interpreting and cultural competency training for clinical and administrative staff. An area for improvement included use of medical records to better identify and serve the needs of patients of different cultures and limited English proficiency. Many healthcare organizations will be challenged to effectively comply with the CLAS standards, especially because few lessons exist in the current body of cultural competency research. This presentation shows how organizational assessment can be guided by the CLAS standards and offers recommendations for practices and policies that may enhance the ability to create more culturally competent healthcare environments.

Learning Objectives: By observing this presentation, participants will be able to

• Create a process to assess the cultural competency of their healthcare environment, including staff and system characteristics.
• Describe how to apply the Federal Standards for Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services (CLAS) in Healthcare to apply findings from an assessment of the cultural competency of their healthcare setting.

Keywords: Cultural Competency, Organizational Change

Related Web page: www.gvhc.org/cultural/index.html

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.

Recorded presentation