Improving Levels of Cultural Competency for Healthcare Staff Caring for Latino Patients

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of this quality improvement project was to increase healthcare staff’s cultural awareness, knowledge, skills, and desire pertinent to Latino populations.Background: Increasing diversity of the United States population places critical importance on healthcare providers to provide culturally competent care. Patient-provider barriers, including language, nonverbal and verbal communication, and basic cultural knowledge, can diminish the efficiency and efficacy of patient treatment. Establishing cultural competence in healthcare clinic staff can improve patient interaction and outcomes; specifically, cultural competence has been noted to improve patient treatment adherence and reduce health disparities. Framework and Methods: This educational quality improvement project employed a pre-post-test design. The project design and process were informed by the Plan-Do-Study-Act cycle and involved healthcare providers at an outpatient pediatric clinic in Gilbert, AZ. Voluntary participation in a synchronous educational session was delivered by PowerPoint training during a monthly staff meeting. Project outcomes were measured with a Likert-based pre- and post-survey incorporating components from Seeleman’s framework for cultural competency. Survey data was collected and analyzed to determine changes in staff cultural competence. Results: Aggregate comparative and descriptive analysis of pretest and posttest scores found increases in minimum, maximum, and mean overall cultural competency scores of participants (n=6). All measured components had increased comparative scores. Conclusion: Educational training for healthcare providers can increase levels of basic cultural competency. Increasing overall cultural competence of healthcare staff may require more intermittent education sessions. Recommendations for maintaining culturally relevant care by staff may include policies for initial and continued clinic-informed cultural competency. Data collection was limited to collection from the single clinic site. However, project findings can improve the quality of care delivered at the clinic and provide implications for future research. As healthcare providers and staff gain a foundation of cultural competence through education, they may be empowered to provide culturally informed quality patient care regionally, nationally, and globally.