Cultural Competency

MultiCare strongly believes in providing quality health care to our diverse community. This care is respectful and addresses cultural, spiritual, language and other unique needs of our patients and families. We ensure a culturally competent workforce by providing MultiCare employees training, resources and consulting services. Culturally competent care allows us to equitably serve the needs of all. We also collaborate with community partners to address health disparities throughout our service area.

What is Cultural Competency?

Cultural Competency is the ability to work and communicate well with people of different cultures by being respectful and responsive to health beliefs, practices and linguistic needs. Benefits of cultural competence include increased patient trust, improved care outcomes and patient satisfaction.

We believe developing cultural competence occurs along a continuum and is continuously evolving. We strive to be culturally proficient.

Culturally Competent Care: Computer Based Learning and In-Person Trainings

We provide Culturally Competent Care CBL modules mandatory for all staff system wide. The CBL training modules provide our staff with the tools and techniques to provide culturally competent care. In-Person Trainings are also available to MultiCare departments system wide. The In-Person Trainings are tailored to fit the needs of the requesting department and provide hands-on activities/case studies to more deeply explore concepts introduced in the CBL module.

Content Includes, but is not limited to:

• Setting the Stage /Self-Reflection - Provide staff with the definition of cultural competency and diversity. Encourage staff to reflect on what diversity is, what culturally competent care means and the unique challenges faced by diverse patients.
• Demographics - Share information about the populations MultiCare serves within our hospital service areas/counties. Explore top 10 languages spoken in Pierce and King County. Highlight our increasingly diverse patient population. Describe changing demographics.
• Exploring Health Disparities - Provide staff with the definition of health disparities and why they exist. Explain patient, provider and organizational system factors. Highlight disparities faced by minority groups. Define CLAS standards.
• Stereotypes, Biases and Assumptions - Provide definition of stereotypes, biases and assumptions, explaining how they can impact patient care and staff interactions. Provide activities and scenarios to raise self-awareness/tools to overcome stereotypes. 
• Cultural Considerations - Describe and identify cultural and generational competence. Provide examples of how cultural/generational and spiritual beliefs may impact a patient’s health care experience, specifically for minority and religious groups. Explore the challenges and benefits of working with/providing care for diverse individuals. Identify ways for health care providers and staff to build cultural awareness and sensitivity.
• Cross-cultural communication - Define Cross-Cultural Communication. Describe language assistance modalities and functions across MultiCare. Provide activities to display benefits of staff/system/patient by providing culturally competent care.

LGBTQ Core Competency Education/Trainings

In partnership with the Susan G. Komen Foundation, the Rainbow Center and the Oasis Youth Center, we have provided LBGT Core Competency Trainings and LGBT Breast Health Competency Trainings to our internal staff.