What is cultural competency?
Cultural competence is "the ability of systems to provide care to patients with diverse values, beliefs and behaviors including tailoring delivery of care to meet patients' social cultural and linguistic needs. The ultimate goal is a healthcare system and workforce that can deliver the highest quality of care to every patient, regardless of race, ethnicity, cultural background, or English proficiency."

 

Every clinical encounter is a cross-cultural one, and healthcare professionals benefit by learning to provide culturally and linguistic responsive care. This will increase patient satisfaction, improve patient compliance, and work to eliminate racial and ethnic health disparities.

 

Why does it matter in Arizona?

 

• Arizona is expected to gain 276,000 people through international migration between 1995 and 2025.
   
• Between 1995 and 2025, it is projected that the non-Hispanic African American population will grow 66 percent; the non-Hispanic Asian and Pacific Islander population will grow 126 percent and the Hispanic population will grow 138 percent in Arizona.
   
• 25 percent of Arizonans over the age of 5 indicated speaking a language other than English at home and 11 percent spoke English less than “very well” in the 2000 US Census.