Abstract
Improving cultural competence has gained increasing attention as part of concerted and comprehensive strategies for eliminating racial and ethnic disparities in health and health care. Both symbolically and substantively, recognition of the need for these competencies is embedded in the 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA), where at least 19 provisions provide specific research, training or service support. The actions supported by this law complement and advance efforts to ground cultural competence in tested, evidence-based work. At the same time, the ACA and assessments from the field also offer direction for the evolution of cultural competence research and service innovation.
This seminar will review the progress to date in documenting an evidence-base for cultural competence. It will present actions in the context of the individual, health care organizations and their workforce, and community, identifying areas for new efforts as proffered in the ACA and through recent research. Drawing on lessons learned from research, programs and policy, this session will highlight the dynamic nature of cultural competence and what evidence to date says about its future. It will conclude with a discussion around the need to offer and expand venues for engaging providers, communities, investigators and policymakers in translation of related research to practice.
