What We Do
The Center for Cross-Cultural Health works to create equal opportunity for all populations to be healthy. We do this by: (download organization flow chart)
Our experienced professional staff uses core professional training modules, train-the-trainer modules, and custom training modules to meet the cross-cultural health training needs of our clients. The staff also provides consulting and organizational development services to clients.
Core Professional Training Modules
Train-the-Trainer Modules
Consulting and Organizational Development Services
Core Professional Training Modules
These modules are designed for professionals who are seeking to improve their cultural and linguistic knowledge and skills. The core professional modules that the Center provides include:
- Cross-Cultural Communication:
Explores the importance of effective cross-cultural communication to the patient/provider relationship. - Cultural Competence I:
Introduces care providers to cultural competence in health care. - Cultural Competence II:
Advances the care provider's knowledge and application of cultural competence in health care. - Working with an Interpreter:
Examines the need for language services and qualified interpreters to reduce medical errors, increase patient compliance, increase patient satisfaction, and improve primary care utilization. - Introduction to Cultural and Linguistically Appropriate Service (CLAS) Standards:
Explores the CLAS mandates, legal implications, and provides strategies for implementing the standards within medical organizations. - Health Disparities I:
Presents research evidence about health outcome differences for diverse populations that still persist even when health access differences are accounted for. - Collecting Race and Ethnicity Data:
Describes how to collect demographic data on race and ethnicity in a culturally competent manner. - Making the Business Case:
Examines the rationale and financial implications for creating culturally competent organizations.
Train-the-Trainer Modules
The above Core Professional Training Modules are also available as Train-the-Trainer Modules. These modules are designed for staff members who are responsible for providing education and training to health care professionals, care givers, and other staff within their organizations. In addition to all the applicable instructional materials, each Train-the-Trainer module provides practical tips and techniques for cross-cultural training. The Center's instructors provide participants with highly interactive instruction that includes: didactic exercises, video vignettes, and group discussions.
Consulting and Organizational Development Services
CLAS-Based Assessment Tool
The Center provides a survey to enable health care organizations to assess their overall compliance with CLAS standards. The Center works with organizations to deliver the survey, and provide a statistical summary of results. The Center uses these results to make recommendations that help the organization develop strategies and specific behaviors that move the organization toward greater cultural and linguistic competence.
Cultural Competency Organizational Development
The Center has developed an Organizational Development Model for Cultural Competence to help move organizations to sustainable cultural competence. The model has been successfully implemented in multiple health care and social services settings. It is implemented in four phases:
1. Readiness pre-assessment
2. Internal–organizational assessment
3. External–community assessment
4. Implementation and evaluation
The Center analyzes findings from implementing the model, develops recommendations, and partners with organizations to convert recommendations into a realistic work plan that can be implemented and evaluated.