Requirements designed to increase cultural sensitivity have been adopted by CMS, the Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Care and The Joint Commission as the U.S. population becomes more diversified, according to Debra Stinchcomb, BSN, RN, of BSM Consulting.
Minority Americans are expected to make up more than 40 percent of the country's population by 2035, according to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.
Ms. Stinchcomb shared six strategies for accommodating increasingly diverse patient populations:
1. Incorporate culture-specific attitudes and values into promotional health tools.
2. Work with traditional healers.
3. Hire minority employees.
4. Educate staff about local patients' beliefs and practices, avoid generalizations, and develop an understanding of various groups.
5. Offer language assistance through translated documents, interpreters and/or bilingual staff.
6. Include family members in the surgical process when appropriate.