An ecological approach to organizational cultural competence

Cultural competency initiatives are proliferating in health care organizations in response to changing demographics, quality improvement and regulatory requirements, and equitable care missions. An ecological or multi-faceted system-wide approach is an innovative strategy that can be used to facilitate organizational transformation and ensure the provision of cross-cultural health care that meets patient needs. This presentation will describe how these strategies were implemented at Lehigh Valley Health Network (Allentown, PA) and how outcomes were achieved on its cultural competency journey. Highlights will include: • The transformational event that strengthened leadership buy-in and created a shared vision among multiple stakeholders • The strategies to secure sponsorship from senior leadership and the need to align cultural competency initiatives with larger organizational endeavors to create tight connections • The development of a passionate and diverse multi-disciplinary task force that included all levels of leadership who served as change leaders and change agents • The importance of conducting an organizational assessment to identify areas that are successful or in need of improvement in the provision of culturally-appropriate care • The creation of a cultural competency strategic plan that identified priority areas and measurable outcomes for improvement which remains congruent with regulatory bodies such as the Joint Commission • The implementation of the strategic plan that utilized change management and project management methodologies to promote success • The specific outcomes achieved and the limitations experienced during the multi-year process for developing and implementing the cultural competency strategic plan. This presentation will identify replicable factors that can increase the likelihood of success for an organizational cultural awareness initiative. These factors can be adapted by other organizations as they begin or continue their own cultural awareness journeys.