BHLP Resources | Best Practice Links: Overview

Definitions of Cultural Competence
- HRSA Bureau of Health Professionals
  To advance the discussion of cultural competence and its meaning, the Bureau's Division of Health Professions Diversity has compiled a representative list of definitions of cultural competence.
Policy & Programs
- Office of Minority Health, US Dept of Health & Human Services
  The mission of the Office of Minority Health (OMH) is to improve and protect the health of racial and ethnic minority populations through the development of health policies and programs that will eliminate health disparities. Topics include Cultural Competence, Health Topic, and Minority Populations.
- The Commonwealth Fund
  The Commonwealth Fund is a private foundation that aims to promote a high performing health care system that achieves better access, improved quality, and greater efficiency, particularly for society's most vulnerable, including low-income people, the uninsured, minority Americans, young children, and elderly adults.
- Ford Foundation
  The Ford Foundation goals are to strengthen democratic values, reduce poverty and injustice, promote international cooperation, and advance human achievement. In its program, Religion, Society and Culture, the Foundation supports projects that examine the role of religious traditions of the world in shaping social values, with the goal of strengthening the contribution of these traditions to creating just, healthy and pluralistic societies. Grant making also seeks to support the participation of historically marginalized groups in the interpretation of diverse religious and cultural traditions and to examine the moral resources they offer contemporary societies.
- The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
  RWJF focuses on the pressing health and health care issues facing our country. The Foundation works with a diverse group of organizations and individuals to identify solutions and achieve comprehensive, meaningful and timely change.
- Kaiser Family Foundation
  A leader in health policy and communications, the Kaiser Family Foundation is a non-profit, private operating foundation focusing on the major health care issues facing the U.S., with a growing role in global health.
- The California Endowment
  The California Endowment's mission is to expand access to affordable, quality health care for underserved individuals and communities, and to promote fundamental improvements in the health status of all Californians.
- The Access Project
  The Access Project is a research affiliate of the Schneider Institute for Health Policy at Brandeis University. Its mission is to strengthen community action, promote social change, and improve health, especially for those who are most vulnerable. By supporting local initiatives and community leaders, The Access Project is dedicated to strengthening the voice of underserved communities in the public and private policy discussions that directly affect them.
Reports
- Mental Health: A Report of the Surgeon General 1999 - Chapter 2 Section 8: Overview of Cultural Diversity and Mental Health Services
  The Surgeon General's report on mental health in the US: "Racial and ethnic minority groups are generally considered to be underserved by the mental health services system.research and clinical practice have propelled advocates and mental health professionals to press for 'linguistically and culturally competent services' to improve utilization and effectiveness of treatment for different cultures."
- A Manager's Guide to Cultural Competence Education for Health Care Professionals - 2003
  This resource bibliography was compiled as part of the research and environmental scan completed for the project, "Setting Standards for the Cultural Competence Education of Healthcare Professionals," funded by The California Endowment. This research process made it possible to accumulate, in one document, information on a vast array of data, tools, articles, curricula and other resources relative to the cultural competence education of health care professionals.
- Compendium of Cultural Competence Initiatives in Health Care (Kaiser Family Foundation)
  Public and private sector organizations are involved in a number of activities that seek to reduce cultural and communication barriers to health care. These activities are often described as cultural competency and/or cross-cultural education. This compendium is a first attempt at describing these activities in a single document.
- Healthy People 2010 Fact Sheet
  Healthy People 2010 is a comprehensive set of disease prevention and health promotion objectives for the Nation to achieve over the first decade of the new century. Created by scientists both inside and outside of Government, it identifies a wide range of public health priorities and specific, measurable objectives.
- CDC: Eliminating Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities
  The Office of Minority Health provides leadership in setting priorities and monitors and evaluates programs geared toward eliminating the disproportionate burden of disease, illness and disability among racial and ethnic minority populations through research, enhanced health practices, health promotion and services.
- Institute of Medicine: Unequal Treatment - What health care system administrators need to know about racial and ethnic disparities in healthcare (2002)
  (Direct Link to PDF)
  Based on an IOM study to assess the extent of disparities in the types and quality of health services received by U.S. racial and ethnic minorities and non-minorities, this report found that a consistent body of research demonstrates significant variation in the rates of medical procedures by race, even when insurance status, income, age, and severity of conditions are comparable. This research indicates that U.S. racial and ethnic minorities are less likely to receive even routine medical procedures and experience a lower quality of health services. The report also explores factors that may contribute to inequities in care, and recommends policies and practices to eliminate these inequities.