Health professionals provide care to individuals from a broad range of cultural, linguistic, social, and economic backgrounds; every patient brings their own life experiences, physical history, and varied cultural perspectives into healthcare interactions. Thus, it is important for practitioners to enhance their cultural competency skills. Cultural competency has been broadly defined as “the complex integration of knowledge, attitudes, and skills that enhance cross-cultural communication and effective interactions with others” (Henderson et al., 2018, p. 591). While it’s unlikely any person can become truly culturally competent, health providers can practice self-reflection, and aim to provide high-quality, compassionate, effective, and culturally humble care to all of their patients. Tabs in the guide focus on resources that provide insight on a wide range of patient backgrounds, and can help healthcare providers better understand the many environmental, social, cultural and economic factors that influence a patient’s health, to improve health outcomes and patient-provider trust.
Henderson, S., Horne, M., Hills, R., & Kendall, E. (2018). Cultural competence in healthcare in the community: A concept analysis. Health & Social Care in the Community, 26(4), 590–603. https://doi.org/10.1111/hsc.12556
The information shared on this healthcare guide is not comprehensive nor reflective of all available materials. For more information:
Looking for articles on cultural competence, humility, effectiveness, or responsiveness?
The best databases are Academic Search Complete, CINAHL, ERIC (education), and Medline.
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Use EBSCOhost and select All Databases.
Databases in all healthcare disciplines. Search one at a time or several at once.
We Can't Talk about That at Work! How to Talk About Race, Religion, Politics, and Other Polarizing Topics by 
Cultural Competence: A Lifelong Journey to Cultural Proficiency by 
Patient Practitioner Interaction: An Experiential Manual for Developing the Art of Health Care by 
Handbook of Multicultural Measures by 
What If I Say the Wrong Thing? : 25 Habits for Culturally Effective People by 
Diversity and Inclusion in Quality Patient Care by 
Health Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion: Context, Controversies, and Solutions by 
Medical Management of Vulnerable and Underserved Patients by 
Strategies for Ensuring Diversity, Inclusion, and Meaningful Participation in Clinical Trials: Proceedings of a Workshop by 
Sex Matters : How Male-Centric Medicine Endangers Women's Health and What We Can Do About It by 
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