HomeCulture, Communication, and Ethics in Health Care
Throughout this site you will find links to information related to the functioning of a culturally competent health care organization.
“Cultural competence” in health care can be defined as: Functioning effectively as an individual or an organization within the context of the cultural beliefs, practices, and needs presented by patients and their communities.¹ This includes demonstrating sensitivity and responsiveness to patients’ and colleagues’ gender, age, culture, religion, disability, physical appearance, ethnicity, gender indentification, and/or sexual orientation.
1. South-Paul J. et al. Cultural competence education. AAMC, 2005.
- Effective Health Communication
Tools and resources available to aid communication with patients and families; Culture Cues™; competency activities for clinicians - Cultural Diversity
Country and cultural profiles; patient education materials in other languages - Patient Education
Patient education Web resources: Micromedex CareNotes (English and Spanish), MedlinePlus, UVa Health Resources Center, Senior Health - Health Literacy
Fact sheets, tools for more effective health communication, and a health literacy bibliography - Patient Safety
Patient safety links: JCAHO resources; patient safety in UVa clinical practice; patient safety organizations; related journals, books, and databases - Health Disparities
Statistics and data sets; race-based therapeutics; socio-cultural issues; genetics - Ethics and Moral Distress
Resources to assist with morally distressing situations; resources for advanced care planning (end of life care)