Cultural Competence Development in University Health Education Courses

Assessing culturally competent scholarship

Cultural competence is a necessity for nursing practice in a global society, and use of objective criteria to measure cultural competence is a critical need. We used Meleis's eight criteria for assessing culturally competent scholarship as an analytical framework for reviewing an international educational/research experience. We developed operational measures for each criterion, then applied the measures to our experience, citing discrete examples for adherence. While we believe we have met the criteria for cultural competence in our course and scholarly work, our application has helped to identify areas needing improvement. In addition, we hope our application of these criteria will stimulate others to evaluate their own efforts in teaching, researching, or practicing cultural competence.

A model for the delivery of culturally competent community care

AIM

To describe the proposed Culturally Competent Community Care (CCCC) model, and the process of development and testing of the model.

BACKGROUND

Community health nurses are challenged to provide culturally competent care in all types of communities. However, existing models have not provided community nurses with specific guidelines, and none attempt to explain the effects of culturally competent care on populations in community settings. Therefore, it is necessary to develop a model that is comprehensive in its description of the dimensions of culturally competent care in community-based settings and that also requires a focus on ethnic populations. The model is essential for reducing racial and ethnic health disparities.

METHODS

Based on literature review and concept analysis, three constructs of the Culturally Competent Community Care Model were developed. Two of the constructs, the health care system and health outcomes, were developed based on a literature review. The main construct of the model, cultural competence, was developed after a concept analysis, following the development and testing of the Cultural Competence Scale (CCS). Interviews with eight community health nurses and a survey by five community nurse experts were conducted in order to refine and confirm the dimensions of cultural competence and its impact on health outcomes.

CONCLUSIONS

The proposed dimensions of culturally competent care are caring, cultural sensitivity, cultural knowledge, and cultural skills. This model focuses on the relationship between cultural competence and health outcomes for culturally diverse populations. The framework provides specific guidelines for community nurses in developing and assessing cultural competence and meeting the health needs of diverse communities.

Professional Development of Health Educators through a Community Diagnosis Training Experience: Observations and Perspectives

Teaching health educators to work effectively with communities is a critical task today. This article will describe how a community diagnosis course, an intensive field experience through which graduate students in health behavior and health education conduct a community assessment, helps students in their development as community health educators. Existing literature on the professional preparation of health educators and the writings of students who have completed the course demonstrate the professional skills that students gain through the experience. Students develop cultural competence, come to a more sophisticated understanding of their relationship to communities and their professional role as health educators, gain experience working effectively as part of a team, and learn specific skills in conducting needs assessments, gathering and analyzing qualitative and quantitative data, and building collaborative efforts.