245113 Development of a Cultural and Linguistic Competency E-Learning Program: An HHS Office of Minority Health Initiative

Sunday, October 30, 2011

Guadalupe Pacheco, MSW , Office of the Assistant Secretary, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Minority Health, Rockville, MD
C. Godfrey Jacobs , SRA International, Inc., Health Disparities Practice, Rockville, MD
The substandard oral health care received by racial and ethnic minorities, and the persistent health inequities they experience, is well documented. Cultural and linguistic competency has evolved as one strategy to help eliminate oral health disparities. The Department of Health and Human Services' Office of Minority Health (OMH) is developing an e-learning program to equip oral health professionals with the knowledge and skills to provide culturally and linguistically appropriate services to all patients.

This program will be the latest addition to Think Cultural Health, a cultural competency resource center that houses online, accredited continuing education programs for health professionals, with over 80,000 participants. OMH's e-learning program development process includes an environmental scan, a needs assessment based on nationwide focus groups, and an advisory panel of subject matter experts. OMH aims to produce a creative and practical program that increase knowledge, skills and awareness regarding culturally competent and linguistically appropriate practices.

This program will be grounded in the National Standards for Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services (CLAS) in Health Care. It is a part of the larger HHS initiative “Oral Health is Integral to Overall Health” that reflects a commitment to develop and support programs that emphasize oral health promotion and disease prevention, increased access to care, and enhancement of the oral health workforce in order to help eliminate oral health disparities. This cultural and linguistic competency e-learning program could play an important role in promoting oral health equity in the United States, an urgent priority in fostering healthy communities nationwide.

Learning Areas:
Diversity and culture
Provision of health care to the public

Learning Objectives:
- Participants will be able to explain the rationale for cultural and linguistic competency in oral health care. - Participants will be able to describe the development process of an e-learning program in cultural and linguistic competency for oral health professionals.

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: In my current capacity as Senior Health Advisor to the Director for Minority Health, I assist in developing policies and initiatives to mitigate health disparities that affect racial and ethnic minority communities.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

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