Professional Documents
Culture Documents
A Systematic Review
Laurie M. Anderson, PhD, MPH, Susan C. Scrimshaw, PhD, Mindy T. Fullilove, MD,
Jonathan E. Fielding, MD, MPH, MBA, Jacques Normand, PhD, and the Task Force
on Community Preventive Services
Overview: Culturally competent healthcare systemsthose that provide culturally and linguistically
appropriate services have the potential to reduce racial and ethnic health disparities.
When clients do not understand what their healthcare providers are telling them, and
providers either do not speak the clients language or are insensitive to cultural differences,
the quality of health care can be compromised. We reviewed five interventions to improve
cultural competence in healthcare systemsprograms to recruit and retain staff members
who reflect the cultural diversity of the community served, use of interpreter services or
bilingual providers for clients with limited English proficiency, cultural competency
training for healthcare providers, use of linguistically and culturally appropriate health
education materials, and culturally specific healthcare settings. We could not determine
the effectiveness of any of these interventions, because there were either too few
comparative studies, or studies did not examine the outcome measures evaluated in this
review: client satisfaction with care, improvements in health status, and inappropriate racial
or ethnic differences in use of health services or in received and recommended treatment.
(Am J Prev Med 2003;24(3S):68 79) 2003 American Journal of Preventive Medicine
T
he need for culturally competent health care in
the efficiency of clinical and support staff, and result in
the United States is great: racial and ethnic
greater client satisfaction with services.2
minorities are burdened with higher rates of
disease, disability, and death, and tend to receive a The surge of immigrants into the United States over
lower quality of health care than nonminorities, even the past 3 decades has brought a proliferation of
when access-related factors, such as insurance status foreign languages and cultures. Residents of the United
and income, are taken into account.1 Health disparities States speak no less than 329 languages, with 32 million
related to socioeconomic disadvantage can be allevi- people speaking a language other than English at
ated, in part, by creating and maintaining culturally home.3 In response to this expanding cultural diversity,
competent healthcare systems that can at least over- healthcare systems are paying increased attention to
come communication barriers that may preclude ap- the need for culturally and linguistically appropriate
propriate diagnosis, treatment, and follow-up. Cultural services. Cultural and linguistic competence reflects the
competence is an essential ingredient in quality health ability of healthcare systems to respond effectively to
care (see Defining Cultural Competence in Health the language and psychosocial needs of clients.4
several levels, including health systems, their adminis- standards for culturally and linguistically appropriate
trative and bureaucratic processes, utilization manag- services (CLAS) in health care.4 The CLAS standards
ers, healthcare professionals, and clients. (Table 2) were developed to provide a common under-
standing and consistent definition of culturally and
linguistically appropriate healthcare services. Addition-
Culturally Competent Healthcare Systems
ally, they were proposed as one means to correct
In the social environment and health logic model inequities in the provision of health services and to
(described elsewhere in this supplement31) access to make healthcare systems more responsive to the needs
health promotion, disease and injury prevention, and of all clients. Ultimately, the standards aim to eliminate
health care serves as an intermediate indicator along a racial and ethnic disparities in health status and im-
pathway linking resources in the social environment to prove the health of the entire population. The health-
health outcomes. An important component of access to care interventions selected for this review by the Task
care for culturally diverse populations is the cultural Force on Community Preventive Services (the Task
competence of healthcare systems. This is integral to Force) complement the recommended CLAS standards
healthcare quality, because the goal of culturally com- for linguistic and cultural competency by assessing the
petent care is to assure the provision of appropriate extent to which meeting some of these standards results
services and reduce the incidence of medical errors in improved processes and outcomes of care.
resulting from misunderstandings caused by differ-
ences in language or culture. Cultural competence has
Conceptual Approach
potential for improving the efficiency of care by reduc-
ing unnecessary diagnostic testing or inappropriate use A description of the general methods used to conduct the
of services. systematic reviews for the Guide to Community Preventive Services
(the Community Guide) have been described in detail else-
where.33 The specific methods for conducting reviews of
Healthy People 2010 Goals and Objectives interventions to promote healthy social environments are
described in detail in this supplement.31 This section briefly
Cultural and linguistic competence in health care is
describes the conceptual approach and search strategy for
integral to achieving the overarching goals of Healthy interventions to promote cultural competence in healthcare
People 201032: increasing quality and years of healthy life systems. These interventions are designed to improve provid-
and eliminating health disparities. ers cultural understanding and sensitivity, as well as their
Access to health care is a leading health indicator. linguistic acumen and comprehension, and to provide a
Barriers to access include cultural differences, language welcoming healthcare environment for clients.
barriers, and discrimination. Culturally competent Five interventions were selected for review:
health services improve all focus areas of Healthy People
programs to recruit and retain staff members who reflect
2010 by reducing barriers to clinical preventive care, the cultural diversity of the community served,
primary care, emergency services, and long-term and use of interpreter services or bilingual providers for clients
rehabilitative care. Healthy People 2010 objectives that with limited English proficiency,
specifically address the need to increase cultural com- cultural competency training for healthcare providers,
petence in health care are described in Table 1. use of linguistically and culturally appropriate health edu-
cation materials, and
culturally specific healthcare settings (e.g., neighborhood
National Standards for Culturally and Linguistically clinics for immigrant populations or clinicas de
Appropriate Services in Health Care campesinos for Mexican farmworker families).
In March 2001, the Department of Health and Human We did not review organizational supports for cultural
Services Office of Minority Health published national competence, such as policies and procedures for collecting
Preamble (excerpt)
The following national standards issued by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Minority Health
respond to the need to ensure that all people entering the healthcare system receive equitable and effective treatment in a
culturally and linguistically appropriate manner. These standards for culturally and linguistically appropriate services
(CLAS) are proposed as a means to correct inequities that currently exist in the provision of health services and to make
these services more responsive to the individual needs of all patients or consumers. The standards are intended to be
inclusive of all cultures and not limited to any particular population group or sets of groups; however, they are especially
designed to address the needs of racial, ethnic, and linguistic population groups that experience unequal access to health
services. Ultimately, the aim of the standards is to contribute to the elimination of racial and ethnic health disparities and
to improve the health of all Americans.
Culturally competent care
Standard 1. Healthcare organizations should ensure that patients or consumers receive from all staff members effective,
understandable, and respectful care that is provided in a manner compatible with their cultural health beliefs and
practices and preferred language.
Standard 2. Healthcare organizations should implement strategies to recruit, retain, and promote at all levels of the
organization a diverse staff and leadership that are representative of the demographic characteristics of the service area.
Standard 3. Healthcare organizations should ensure that staff members at all levels and across all disciplines receive ongoing
education and training in culturally and linguistically appropriate service delivery.
Language access services
Standard 4. Healthcare organizations must offer and provide language assistance services, including bilingual staff and
interpreter services, at no cost to each patient or consumer with limited English proficiency at all points of contact, in a
timely manner during all hours of operation.
Standard 5. Healthcare organizations must provide to patients or consumers in their preferred language both verbal offers
and written notices informing them of their right to receive language assistance services.
Standard 6. Healthcare organizations must assure the competence of language assistance provided to limited English
proficient patients or consumers by interpreters and bilingual staff members. Family and friends should not be used to
provide interpretation services (except on request by the patient or consumer).
Standard 7. Healthcare organizations must make available easily understood patient-related materials and post signage in the
languages of the commonly encountered groups or groups represented in the service area.
Organizational supports for cultural competence
Standard 8. Healthcare organizations should develop, implement, and promote a written strategic plan that outlines clear
goals, policies, operational plans, and management accountability or oversight mechanisms to provide culturally and
linguistically appropriate services.
Standard 9. Healthcare organizations should conduct initial and ongoing organizational self-assessments of CLAS-related
activities and are encouraged to integrate cultural and linguistic competence-related measures into their internal audits,
performance improvement programs, patient satisfaction assessments, and outcomes-based evaluations.
Standard 10. Healthcare organizations should ensure that data on the individual patients or consumers race, ethnicity, and
spoken and written language are collected in health records, integrated into the organizations management information
systems, and periodically updated.
Standard 11. Healthcare organizations should maintain a current demographic, cultural, and epidemiologic profile of the
community as well as a needs assessment to accurately plan for and implement services that respond to the cultural and
linguistic characteristics of the service area.
Standard 12. Healthcare organizations should develop participatory, collaborative partnerships with communities and use a
variety of formal and informal mechanisms to facilitate community and patient or consumer involvement in designing and
implementing CLAS-related activities.
Standard 13. Healthcare organizations should ensure that conflict and grievance resolution processes are culturally and
linguistically sensitive and capable of identifying, preventing, and resolving cross-cultural conflicts or complaints by patients
or consumers.
Standard 14. Healthcare organizations are encouraged to regularly make available to the public information about their
progress and successful innovations in implementing the CLAS standards and to provide public notice in their
communities about the availability of this information.
information on race or ethnicity for accountability or incor- for clients that accommodate differences in language and
poration into organizational performance improvement culture. Services such as interpreters or bilingual providers,
plans. cultural diversity training for staff members, linguistically and
culturally appropriate health education, and culturally spe-
Analytic Frameworks cific healthcare settings may improve health because of the
following:
The conceptual model (or analytic framework) used to
evaluate the effectiveness of healthcare system interventions Clients gain trust and confidence in accessing health care,
to increase cultural competence is shown in Figure 1. Cultur- thereby reducing differentials in contact or follow-up that
ally competent healthcare systems provide an array of services may result from a variety of causes (e.g., communication