Committing to diversity and inclusion in integrative care

Examine cultural competence in healthcare practice

While personal awareness, education, and action should remain ongoing, healthcare providers must examine cultural competence in their own practices. A first step for an individual provider is to listen to local communities of color and what their needs are. Listening builds trust, which is necessary to connect and make structural changes.

A practitioner may also have open discussions with their patients of color. Healthcare delivery must align with individual patients’ social, cultural, and linguistic needs. Steps should be taken to identify and understand these needs. Connect with community-based organizations or reach out to providers of color and build working relationships. Consider the following resources for analyzing and building cultural competence in a healthcare practice:

• Becoming a Culturally Competent Health Care Organization (American Hospital Association)
• Diversity and inclusion in the workplace
• Leading with Effective Communication (Inclusive Leadership Training)
• Inclusion of Minorities in Community Development
• Optimizing Diversity on Teams
• Build an inclusive culture
• Managing People: Teamwork and Diversity