The capacity to incorporate culturally competent approaches across primary care systems remains a challenge for many organizations across the United States. As organizations and programs in the healthcare industry struggle to respond to the needs of the population from culturally diverse groups, there is a compelling need for cultural competence. This need is informed by, among other factors, the current and projected demographic changes in the US; the need to eliminate longstanding disparities in the healthcare system as informed by cultural diversity; and the need to improve the quality of services and primary care outcomes. This essay discusses existing laws and policies related to equitable service for all population segments before identifying the implications of the diversity of healthcare organizations.
The most inclusive federal regulation addressing cultural diversity is Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. This statute states that no person in the United States should be denied benefits under any program or activity receiving federal financial assistance because of their racial or ethnic characteristics (US DOJ, 2017). Considering that public healthcare receives federal funding at all levels, this statute upholds diversity and inclusion in public healthcare. The other primary federal statute addressing discrimination is the Americans with Disability Act of 1990. This Act prohibits discrimination against individuals with a disability from employment opportunities and public accommodation in State and local government services (US DOJ, 2010). This Act was amended in 2008 through the ADA Amendment Act of 2008, which revised the definition of disability to accommodate the interests and welfare of mentally disabled individuals. The purpose of the ADA is to protect the disabled from being subjected to discriminative practice in the public sector, including healthcare.
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The US Department of Health and Human Services has also come up with regulations to fight discrimination in healthcare. These are the National Standards on Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services (CLAS) (Ohta, 2015). The CLAS standards are based on the principal concept that healthcare providers must provide adequate, equitable, reasonable, and respectful care (Ohta, 2015). The standards also mandate healthcare providers to acknowledge and respond to diverse cultural health beliefs, language preferences, varying health literacy levels, and other communication needs (Ohta, 2015). These standards are based on the acknowledgment that people from different cultural backgrounds, socioeconomic statuses, and education levels cannot enjoy equitable healthcare.
The implications for diversity in the context of healthcare organizations are wide-ranging. Firstly, diverse healthcare organizations would respond to the changes in demographic patterns in the country. According to the Census Bureau, 40% of the US population in 2030 will constitute individuals of diverse racial and ethnic groups (Mizoguchi et al., 2019). As American society becomes increasingly diverse, it is essential to respond to the needs of the diverse population. Secondly, diversity in healthcare would address the longstanding challenge of inequity in healthcare, which negatively affects individuals in the African American, Hispanic American, Native American, and Asian American subgroups (Armada & Hubbard, 2010). As mentioned earlier, diversity in healthcare organizations would eradicate the biases, prejudice, and ethnic disparities responsible for denying quality healthcare to the subgroups. Finally, improving the organizational cultures of healthcare organizations by making them culturally diverse would also enhance the quality of services and primary care outcomes. Culturally competent care would improve health outcomes, client satisfaction, and preventive care.
References
Armada, A. A., & Hubbard, M. F. (2010). Diversity in healthcare: Time to get REAL. Frontiers of Health Services Management , 26 (3), 3-17.
Mizoguchi, N., Walker, L., Trevelyan, E., & Ahmed, B. (2019). The older foreign-born population in the United States: 2012–2016 . United States Census Bureau .
Ohta, G. (2015). National standards for culturally and linguistically appropriate services (CLAS) in health and health care. Hawai'i Journal of Medicine & Public Health , 74 (7 Suppl 1), 12.
US Department of Justice (US DOJ). (2010). The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 and Revised ADA Regulations Implementing Title II and Title III . https://omh.ny.gov/omhweb/cultural_competence/regs.html
US Department of Justice (US DOJ). (2017). Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act . https://www.justice.gov/crt/title-vi-1964-civil-rights-act
