Building a Multicultural Team

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            The United States is a multicultural nation.  The healthcare industry is realizing that, because America is such a diverse country, it must focus on building a multicultural healthcare team to improve care for patients from different countries as well as various ethnic and racial groups.  A multicultural team encompasses physicians, nurses, dietitians, and allied health care professionals who are fluent in other languages.  These providers can assist with interpreting as well as adopting cultural customs and traditions.  This is an important policy to improve; lack of proper communication between health care provider and patient may lead to adverse effects on quality of care.
            A study published in May of 2002 in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute addresses how outreach programs can have a positive effect on North American Chinese women, a group of individuals who are less likely to undergo routine Pap exams.  The study suggests how these outreach interventions, which are culturally and linguistically appropriate, are an effective method for expanding the amount of cervical screenings within this subgroup.  Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) implemented a language assistance program provides patients access to interpreters during physician appointments as well as translators to assist in translating specific documents.  Fostering a multicultural health care team will promote productivity, maintain Joint Commission standards, assure patient safety, and provides a more patient-centered approach to care.
            Dietitians who know various languages and who are culturally diverse and sensitive play a significant role in patient care.  Food and culture are interrelated.  Dietitians communicate with individuals from a variety of backgrounds.  Health care providers need to understand cultural and ethnic practices including understanding kosher law, halal foods, strict vegan diets, religious beliefs about eating certain animals like cows or pork and etc.
Tempest, M. (2012, July). Building a multicultural team. Today’s Dietitian, (14)7, 36.

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