title: Caring for culturally diverse patients: one agency's journey toward cultural competence.
abstract: Across the United States, spanning urban, suburban, and rural areas, racial and ethnic minority populations are growing faster than White English-speaking populations. Increasingly, healthcare professionals are providing care to patients from diverse cultures with traditions and beliefs that may be unfamiliar and with health practices that may conflict with western medicine. How can home care and hospice professionals navigate this new terrain and communicate effectively across cultural boundaries? One agency's journey toward cultural competency may provide a road map for others.
authors.affiliation: VNA Care Network & Hospice, Needham, Massachusetts 02494, USA. cromeo@vnacarenetwork.org
authors.forename: Cathy
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Romeo
mesh_terms: D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D015984:Causality; D002983:Clinical Competence / Q000592:standards*; D003144:Communication Barriers; D003152:Community Health Nursing / Q000193:education / Q000458:organization & administration; D018864:Cultural Diversity; D004509:Education, Nursing, Continuing; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand; D006304:Health Status; D006699:Home Care Services / Q000458:organization & administration; D006801:Humans; D008404:Massachusetts; D008913:Minority Groups; D015969:National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine, U.S., Health and Medicine Division; D009740:Nursing Staff / Q000193:education / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000523:psychology; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic; D011287:Prejudice; D011367:Professional Staff Committees / Q000458:organization & administration; D011787:Quality of Health Care; D017749:Total Quality Management / Q000458:organization & administration*; D016746:Transcultural Nursing / Q000193:education / Q000458:organization & administration; D014481:United States