Maternal-child immigrant health training: changing knowledge and attitudes to improve health care delivery.
This paper reports the development, implementation and evaluation of a training program for all levels of staff of Maternity Infant Care Family Planning Centers in New York City. The learner-centered training is designed to enhance cross-cultural sensitivity and communication skills. It provides epidemiological and patient management skills for serving ethnically diverse populations and focuses on skills training, such as the cross-linguistic, cross-cultural interview, and using epidemiological principles in diagnosis and treatment. In addition to the core curriculum, each module is tailored to the site-specific information needs of the participants, as determined during individualized needs assessments. There are five sessions: the cross-cultural medical interview and working with interpreters; epidemiologic issues; attitudes and practices in maternal child health; family dynamics and interactions; and a session devoted to follow-up and evaluation. This training has been very successful in enhancing health care providers' sensitivity toward immigrant health issues. Pre- and post-test measurements found statistically significant improvements in the knowledge and attitudes of participants. Patient care has been greatly improved.
Gany
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Department of Medicine, New York University Medical Center and Bellevue Hospital, New York 10016, USA.
Thiel de Bocanegra
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D003142:Communication; D018864:Cultural Diversity; D004641:Emigration and Immigration; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006282:Health Personnel / Q000193:education* / Q000523:psychology; D006801:Humans; D007318:Inservice Training / Q000458:organization & administration*; D008430:Maternal-Child Health Centers / Q000592:standards*; D015397:Program Evaluation; D011785:Quality Assurance, Health Care