Interventions to Improve Cultural Competency in Healthcare: A Systematic Review of Reviews

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Abstract

Cultural competency is a recognized and popular approach to improving the provision of health care to racial/ethnic minority groups in the community with the aim of reducing racial/ethnic health disparities. The aim of this systematic review of reviews is to gather and synthesize existing reviews of studies in the field to form a comprehensive understanding of the current evidence base that can guide future interventions and research in the area. Nineteen published reviews were identified. Reviews consisted of between 5 and 38 studies, included a variety of health care settings/contexts and a range of study types. There were three main categories of study outcomes: patient-related outcomes, provider-related outcomes, and health service access and utilization outcomes. The majority of reviews found moderate evidence of improvement in provider outcomes and health care access and utilization outcomes but weaker evidence for improvements in patient/client outcomes. This review of reviews indicates that there is some evidence that interventions to improve cultural competency can improve patient/client health outcomes.

Citation

Relevant Evidence Summaries

The evidence was reviewed and included in the following summaries: 

What is the impact of cultural competence training among health and mental health providers?

Evidence about the impact of cultural competence training on client health and mental health outcomes is generally inconclusive. Five systematic reviews, including one review of reviews, all published within the past ten years, concur that existing studies lack adequate methodological rigor to draw conclusions about the impact of cultural competence training and programming. Additionally, existing […]

About this study

AGE: Multiple Age Groups

DIRECTION OF EVIDENCE: Inconclusive or mixed impact

FULL TEXT AVAILABILITY: Free

GENDER: All

HOST COUNTRY: Multiple countries

HOST COUNTRY INCOME: High Income

INTERVENTION DURATION: Varies by study

INTERVENTION: Cultural competence training

OUTCOME AREA: Cultural Competence

REGION OF ORIGIN OF PARTICIPANT(S): Multiple Regions

STRENGTH OF EVIDENCE: Strong

TYPE OF STUDY: Systematic review

YEAR PUBLISHED: 2014

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