A Webinar for Members of the DiversityRx - Your Voice Peer Learning Network on Cultural Competence Training
Wednesday, June 30, 2010 - 1pm EDT
Description:
Peer Learning Network moderators, Diana Carr and Nadia Sawaya, will present on how cultural competency training is distinct from diversity education, why cultural competency training should be done, suggestions on how to structure cultural competency training within the organization and suggestions for the qualifications of cultural competency trainers. The peer learning network will be invited to share their thoughts, experiences and questions on these topics.
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Resources:
View a recording of the webinar (windows WMV format).
Download Nadia Sawaya's presentation slides.
Download Diana Carr's presentation slides.
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Questions considered during the webinar included:
Q: In terms of promoting effective intercultural communication, how do
we develop skillset and mindset without reflection on some specifics
related to culture, cultural differences, and the variety of
"answers" that culture provides to us.
Even anthropologists don't know all that there is to know about every culture group. It may be either useful or damaging to understand the specific ways through example or reflection that may cause conflicts for a particular culture group. For example: an 89 year old Hmong woman with active TB refuses to adhere to treatment. After many conversations with her, the community, her family, and providers, it turns out that her refusal had nothing to do with her cultural background and everything to do with her age. She reasoned that at 89 she ought to be able to decide if she takes medication or not. After we explained the legal issues around active TB and noncompliance she preferred to take medication. Care must always be used to not over generalize and to recognize that each group has a large amount of variation within it. By focusing on communication strategies, a physician can find out the information that is relevant to the quality care that needs to be provided.
Q: There are so many options out there for trainings. Any
recommendations or ideas for how to identify the best "best
practices" available?
Ask to look at the curriculum. Is the curriculum flexible? Can it be modified to meet the specific business needs and/or clinical needs of those that are receiving the training? Does it incorporate adult learning strategies?
Q: Diana and Nadia, As an education coordinator for a children's
hospital, I am very interested in diversity. We do not have any
area/personnel responsible for training/development/strategy/structure. From your professional
experience, what opportunities or experts did you seek to help mentor your professional development.
For me, the best mentors were collaborations with other health plans. They shared many perspectives on the same issues and multiple solutions. Some times one can identify champions within an organization, but it seems like more often we each are working alone within our organizations and must find a mentor outside. Building networks such as collaborations (in California it's ICE for Health), CLAS list serve, Diversity RX have all provided people that were mentors for me.
Q: one of the tenets of cultural competency is that it is about
lifelong learning and really not about reaching competency- that you
can't expect to attain a functioning level without ongoing practice.
How do you or anyone out there deal with the need for exposure or
training that is not a single exposure or even several hours of
exposure-
The answer depends on whether the training is for the trainer or for those being trained. I am still taking courses, participating in discussion groups and lecture series to stay current. When it comes to trainingothers- there is a pretty established set of steps to progress through. We try to offer education experiences that support different phases of cultural competency education, different learning styles, provide the opportunity to practice what was learned and provide feedback to those on the journey. Basically, I think using adult learning strategies and a dynamic instructor. We do have to keep it packaged in short blocks, but it is doable. This sounds like a great question for the list serve to see what others are doing.
Additional questions are posed in the presentation slides (see links in Resource box above). Continue the discussion online by sharing your comments with the Peer Learning Network.
To learn more about Peer Learning Networks click here.