Evaluating a cultural competency e-learning program for disaster preparedness and crisis response

With our nation's growing diversity and increasing health disparities among racial and ethnic populations, culturally competent care has evolved as one strategy to reduce health disparities. Evidence indicates that minorities suffer disproportionately at every stage of a disaster, and recent tragedies such as the Haiti earthquake, Hurricane Katrina, and September 11th have illustrated the importance for disaster response personnel to improve cross-cultural communication skills. In an effort to reduce disaster associated disparities, HHS' Office of Minority Health developed the Cultural Competency Curriculum for Disaster Preparedness and Crisis Response (CCC-DPCR) to ensure culturally and linguistically appropriate services are implemented at every phase of disaster. The CCC-DPCR is an online continuing education curriculum designed to equip disaster personnel with the knowledge, awareness and skills needed to provide emergency health services to racially and ethnically diverse populations during times of disaster. The CCC-DPCR will be presented, with a focus on evaluation data collected during the program's first year. The CCC-DPCR has been well received since its launch in July 2009, with nearly 98% of users indicating they would recommend it to their colleagues. Course evaluations show that a majority of users feel the program is an effective tool to increase their knowledge of cultural and linguistic competence. It is anticipated that evaluation data from the program's first year will provide evidence to support training programs of this nature and that the CCC-DPCR offers an adaptable framework for cultural competency training and improving care for culturally and linguistically diverse populations.