Cultural Competence is defined as a set of congruent behaviors, attitudes, and policies that come together in a system, agency, or among professionals and enables that system, agency, or those professionals to work effectively in cross–cultural situations (Cross et al., 1989; Isaacs & Benjamin, 1991). Cultural competence is the mechanism educators and practitioners use to move toward closing gaps in health care. Increasing cultural competence empowers health care providers to be respectful of and responsive to the health beliefs, practices and cultural and linguistic needs of diverse patients, and can help bring about positive health outcomes.
The University of Pittsburgh is committed to addressing health issues among ethnic and racial minorities and other under-served populations. Our Schools of the Health Sciences are engaged in a learning process designed to enhance the cultural and linguistic competence of all constituents in our academic communities.
Below is a sampling of discipline-specific resources. This list is certainly not exhaustive; if there are resources you would like listed, please email us and we will gladly consider including them.
Dental Medicine
- Cultural Competence: Dentistry and Medicine Learning from One Another
- Culturally Sensitive Oral Health Educational Materials for Older African Americans
- "Developing Cultural Competence and Social Responsibility in Preclinical Dental Students".
- Differences in Quality between Dental Practices Associated with Race and Income Mix of Patients
- Sufficiency of the U.S. Oral Health Workforce in the Coming Decade: A Workshop
- "The Role of Cultural Competency in Health Disparities: Training of Primary Care Medical Practitioners in Children's Oral Health"
Health and Rehabilitation
- Blueprint for Teaching Cultural Competence in Physical Therapist Education
- Book: Race, Culture and Disability: Rehabilitation Science and Practice
Medicine
- Distribution of Medical School Graduates by Race/Ethnicity
- Parental Distrust in Medicine
- Rectifying Institutional Biases in Medical Research
- The Case for Cultural Competence in Health Professions Education
- Tools for Assessing Cultural Competence Training (TACCT)
"Medical Education and Cultural Competence: A Strategy to Eliminate Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Health Care," an AAMC project made possible by The Commonwealth Fund, developed to assess cultural-competence training in medical schools. - University of Washington School of Medicine. Ethics in Medicine
Cross-cultural issues and diverse beliefs with an emphasis on pediatrics.
Mental Health
- APA Guidelines for Providers of Psychological Services to Ethnic, Linguistic, and Culturally Diverse Populations
- Cultural Psychology Links by Subtopic
- McGill University Division of Social and Transcultural Psychiatry
Nursing Resources
- Minnesota Organization of Leaders in Nursing
- National Student Nurses Association - Articles on cultural competence in nursing, from the February/March 2006 issue of Imprint
- Transcultural Nursing Society
Pharmacy Practice
- American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy
Contains a list of cultural competency resources for pharmacists and other health professionals. - Cultural Competence in Health Care and Its Implications for Pharmacy
- Cultural Competency in Pharmaceutical Care Delivery
A training template for a one-day pharmacy student elective course. - Intercultural Disposition and Communication Competence of Future Pharmacists
Article that examines the influence of an educational intervention on pharmacy students’ intercultural disposition and perceived communication competence.