JSPH Health Policy Forum: Cultural Competency

Cultural Competency: Using A Case-Based Approach for Teaching and Learning was the title of today’s Health Policy Forum. The presenters, Lisa Hark, PhD, RD, Project Manager for Online Medical Education at Wills Eye Institute and Horace M. DeLisser, MD, Associate Dean, Spirituality and Cultural Competency at the University of Pennsylvania, used compelling real-life scenarios to illustrate cross-cultural issues that arise in clinical encounters. They discussed communication strategies for handling difficult situations and challenged the audience to examine their own perceptions.

Some Questions to Consider:

What does cultural competency mean to you and your work ?

What kinds of experiences have you had providing care to populations that you were unfamiliar with? How did you approach this? What kind of assistance did you need?

As a provider or patient do you feel that you had a negative interaction in a health care setting as a result of your culture, race, gender, language, age, sexual orientation, appearance, etc? How did you handle this?

Have you heard of any interesting programs or resources related to cultural competency?

Share your thoughts and keep the conversation going!