Conversations in Cultural Competency

How culture affects mental health

Culture impacts every mental health patient—and every mental health practitioner. Culture is a key factor that we all bring to every interaction, and it can be especially influential in times of emotional distress. Culture, including beliefs, values, norms, and behaviors, affects how we experience and interpret the world, including the meaning we impart to mental illness. In a clinical setting, cultural meanings of mental illness can account for whether and how a patient:

Massachusetts General Hospital improved patient experience—learn how you can too

Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) is one of the nation's top medical institutions and a leader in the practice and research of medicine. It was established a community hospital charged with serving the medical needs of Boston's diverse population. Over 200 years later, people travel from all over the world to seek medical care at MGH, and serving diversity is still central to its mission.

Expanding the social history

Religion and spirituality are key cross-cultural issues that can impact the way patients react to disease and illness. They also affect the way patients approach medical management. Learn how healthcare providers can expand social history questioning to include religious and spiritual considerations. View and share the infographic.

Managing cultural differences in healthcare

Culture is a complex concept. It includes people’s beliefs, values, behaviors, and ways of understanding their world. In medicine, managing cultural differences—including customs—is essential to providing high-quality health care. One challenge is that patients may not realize they have customs that could jeopardize their wellness. Culture is largely invisible to people who share it. But to outsiders, the customs and ways of life of different cultures are often obvious—and sometimes strange. Here's an example from my own experience:

Quality Interactions cultural competency training is better than ever

Great news here at Quality Interactions. Our industry-leading cultural competency training for healthcare organizations just got even better. We've updated and enhanced our popular course catalog, starting with the ResCUE Model^TM for effective cross-cultural interactions. With powerful new features that increase engagement and deepen learning, now is a great time to utilize our proven eLearning courses for your clinical and non-clinical staff.

Manage Chronic Disease with the EFST Model for Cultural Competence

How can clinicians help ease the stress of chronic disease? Recent healthcare news stories published in The New York Times draw attention to the incredible burden of serious illness and chronic disease on critically sick patients. Not only are they physically uncomfortable and often fighting for their lives—they are also baffled by a confusing healthcare system and swamped by medical bills. Now imagine adding a language barrier to the mix! The challenges of serious illness are compounded when there are cross-cultural issues at play. Quality Interactions' EFST Model is designed to help clinicians uncover and address these issues and provide culturally-sensitive care to all patients with chronic disease.

Our recent live learning event, Social Determinants & Cross-Cultural Care, presented by Dr. Emilio Carrillo, explored the history and impact of social determinants of health (SODH) and presented real-world case studies to show how health practitioners can make a real difference to improve patient health outcomes. Here are the answers to questions submitted by participants that Dr. Carrillo did not have time to answer during the event. You can also access the event slides and recording.

In the 1990s, before I started my second year of medical school at University of California, San Diego (just 30 minutes north of the Mexican border) I made a decision that would change my life. The second-year curriculum allowed for a number of elective courses. We were supposed to select from a catalogue of options—radiology, advanced anatomy, medical ethics, and many others. Most students chose two per semester. I chose one that spanned the entire year: Medical Spanish.

How clinicians can address social determinants of health

We have known for decades that income, education, race, gender, and other social factors have a bigger impact than medical care on people’s health and life expectancy. Social determinants of health (SODH) are well documented by respected organizations such as the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and World Health Organization (WHO).

The U.S. spends more on healthcare than any other country. Yet we struggle with healthcare access and quality, and our overall population is less healthy than other developed nations. One possible solution to this problem is value-based care. This article provides an overview of value-based care models and shows how cultural competency training is essential for doctors and healthcare organizations to provide high-value care for patients.