Compendium of Cultural Competence
Initiatives in Health Care
The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation
January 2003
Prepared by: Courtney Rees, Intern, and Sonia Ruiz, Policy Analyst, The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation,
with contributions from Marsha Lillie-Blanton, Vice President, and Osula Rushing, Policy Analyst, The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation.
The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation is an independent, national health philanthropy dedicated to
providing information and analysis on health issues to policymakers, the media, and the general public.
The Foundation is not associated with Kaiser Permanente or Kaiser Industries.
Table of Contents
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Introduction and Definitions………………………………………………………………………………………………4
Public Sector Initiatives…………………………………………………………………………………………………....8
Private Sector Initiatives………………………………………………………………………………………………….12
Experts in the Field………………………………………………………………………………………………………..18
References…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………22
2
4
Introduction and Definitions
Introduction
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. The Institute of
Medicine report (2002)1, Unequal Treatment, recommended that the
health care system pursue several of these techniques as part of a
multi-level strategy to reduce racial and ethnic disparities in medical
care.*
This compendium is a first attempt at describing these activities in a
single document. It was prepared in response to the many requests
from the media and others to define cultural competency and identify
efforts underway in this emerging field. In a recent article, Brach and
Fraser (2000)2 clustered the techniques frequently