The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA

Abstract #66017

Nilda Chong, MD, DrPH, MPH¹, Sue Tico, BA², and Saleena Gupte, MPH². (1) Director, Institute for Culturally Competent Care, Kaiser Permanente, One Kaiser Plaza, 17L, Oakland, CA 94612, 510-271-2315, Nilda.Chong@kp.org, (2) Institute for Culturally Competent Care, Kaiser Permanente, One Kaiser Plaza, 17L, Oakland, CA 94612

The Institute for Culturally Competent Care reaffirms Kaiser Permanente's commitment to provide personalized care to our 8.5 million members and to improve the overall health of the communities we serve. The Institute for Culturally Competent Care provides training, develops tools and supports large-scale initiatives aimed to eliminate health care disparities and inequities. The Institute supports the establishment of hallmark Centers of Excellence in Culturally Competent Care that develop innovative models of care for our diverse membership. The Institute currently supports six Centers of Excellence: African American Population; Armenian Population, Latino Population; Members with Disabilities; Linguistic Services; and Women’s Health. Two additional Centers of Excellence are in the planning stages for the Eastern European Population and the overall African American, African, and West Indian Populations.

The Institute develops the “Provider's Handbook Series on Culturally Competent Care.” This handbook series provides an ethnocultural overview of four populations: African American, Asian and Pacific Islander, Latino and the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgendered Populations. Each handbook addresses the unique health beliefs and behaviors, risk factors, major diseases, and health care implications for these populations. The Institute for Culturally Competent Care is committed to sharing its success stories and implementation challenges across Kaiser Permanente as well as with the community at large.

In addition, the Institute offers a certification training program in Culturally Competent Care for Kaiser Permanente’s physicians and staff. This training program is a 16-hour program that focuses on cultural awareness, cultural knowledge and skill building.

Learning Objectives:

At the conclusion of the session, the participant will:
• Recognize the commitment and expertise of the Institute for Culturally Competent Care.
• Understand the critical importance of culturally competent care in public health and clinical settings.
• Identify ethnocultural characteristics of four population groups.
• Recognize the intricacies of a culturally competent care training program.
• Develop a care and/or programmatic plan for working with diverse populations.

Keywords: Cultural Competency, Health Disparities

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.