National Standards for Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services in Health and Health Care from the HHS Office of Minority Health: Promoting effective, cross-cultural communication to help reduce health disparities

As the U.S. grows increasingly diverse, health and health care organizations are increasingly implementing culturally and linguistically appropriate services to reduce health disparities and improve quality of care. Culturally and linguistically appropriate services encompass the provision of services that are respectful of and responsive to cultural and linguistic needs; and can improve an organization’s communication with all individuals, regardless of characteristics such as race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity, or socioeconomic status.

To operationalize and promote such services, the HHS Office of Minority Health developed the National Standards for Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services (CLAS). First published in 2000 and revised in 2013, the National CLAS Standards provide a blueprint for health and health care organizations to advance health equity, improve quality, and help eliminate health care disparities.

This presentation will discuss the National CLAS Standards, and its accompanying technical assistance document, A Blueprint for Advancing and Sustaining CLAS Policy and Practice, as a set of action steps that guide adoption of the National CLAS Standards in order to facilitate effective communication, improve quality of care and thereby help to reduce health disparities. 

This presentation will then discuss OMH’s evaluation framework for the National CLAS Standards, including assessing awareness, adoption and implementation.  The presentation will also provide background information regarding preliminary data gathered on individuals who have accessed The Blueprint. Individuals who access The Blueprint complete a brief questionnaire, and the resultant data provides a snapshot that helps describe potential reach and use in the field.