Economic Rationale for Cultural Competence. What element

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Cultural Competency Makes Economic Sense

• Olivia J. Garland, Ph.D.
• October 24-25, 2007

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Goals of the Workshop

• Introduction of topic
• Established Definitions
• Economic Rationale for Cultural Competence
• What elements make up a culturally competent
  organization?

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Definition

• A set of congruent behaviors, attitudes, and
  policies that come together in a system, agency,
  or among professionals and enables that system,
  agency or those professionals to work effectively
  in cross-cultural situations (Cross et al., 1989
  Isaacs Benjamin, 1991).

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How is CC Defined Operationally

• Cultural competence is the integration and
  transformation of knowledge about individuals and
  groups of people into specific standards,
  policies, practices and attitudes used in
  appropriate cultural settings to increase the
  quality of services thereby producing better
  outcomes (Davis, 1997 referring to health
  outcomes)

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Economic Rational
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Lawsuits and Penalties

• Wal-Mart (50 million) sexual harassment
• Publix Supermarkets (82 million) gender
  discrimination
• Pennzoil (original lawsuit - 300 million) race
• Food Lion (settled case confidential) race
• Dennys (original lawsuit - 46 million) race
• Mitsubishi (original lawsuit - 150 million)
  gender/race
• Lockheed Martin (settled - 13 million) - race

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Economic Rationale

• Competitive Advantage-Economic Viability
• Efficient recruitment of and service to customers
  and employees
• Promoting goodwill in the community and business
  arena
• Holistic approach to developing and sustaining
  competencies

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Economic Rationale

• What are the competencies?
• Customs and mores
• Social communication
• Presentation Style

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What are the Economic Benefits

• Increased customers
• Decreased engagement time/decreased labor
  intensity
• Less trial and error
• Decrease drop out rate assist with barriers

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An Effective Program-Organization

• The Organization
• Conducts ongoing training
• Cultural and Linguistic Assessments as part of
  quality management program
• Salary differential for bilingual employees
• Spanish websites
• Identification of members by ethnicity and income
• Analyze data on population to determine
  disparities

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An Effective Program-Organization

• Distinguish cultural backgrounds, idioms and
  accents
• Budget commitment to support CLAS standards
• Short but regular in-service sessions for
  employees that always includes a cultural
  competency topic
• Ensures culturally-relevant policies

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Effective Program-Member

• Member Advisory Groups to provide feedback
• Development of appropriate and culturally
  sensitive member materials
• Partnering with local community based
  organizations to provide support
• During member assessment asking relevant and
  necessary questions

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An Effective Program-Member

• Development of cultural supports in the Members
  plan of care
• Separate provider directory by language

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Effective Program-Provider

• Implements a provider database that includes each
  providers linquistical capability
• On-going training of provider staff
• Provides cultural diversity tips to providers
  with causes of illness, religious beliefs,
  medical decision making, and other office
  practice tips
• Commerce Bureau of the Census has Flash Cards in
  38 languages and can be made available to
  providers.

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Quality Improvement

• Create cultural competent subcommittee as part of
  Quality Improvement Committee
• Use the same processes for performance
  improvement and corrective action
• Create strategic plan to ensure follow-through

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Conclusion

• Assuring that the organization reflects the
  targeted population or has unique understanding
  of the culture, which means
• Cultural competency within an organization gives
  a business a competitive edge.