Abstract

The growing diversity of countries around the world compels a corresponding growth in culturally-congruent care to ensure quality care during end of life. This project is a repeated-measures research study designed to evaluate the effect of a web-based cultural competence intervention on hospice providers‘ cultural competence.

Currently modifications are being made to the web-based cultural competence intervention to make it hospice specific.  At baseline and after completion of the web-based cultural competence intervention providers‘ cultural competence will be assessed using the Cultural Competence Assessment tool. Improvement in provider cultural competence can lead to more culturally congruent care.  

Progress report 

This project is a repeated-measures research study designed to evaluate the effect of a web-based cultural competence intervention on hospice providers’ cultural competence. The secondary goal of the study is to establish acceptability, feasibility, and potential effect size prior to a future longitudinal web-based cultural competence intervention for hospice providers. Hospice providers are key points of contact with patients and families; thus improving hospice providers’ cultural competence is central to the health care system’s ability to provide access to and delivery of high-quality, high-value health care to patients of all cultures.
The Culture & End of Life modules were designed and our intervention was adapted to multimedia instruction and applied to culturally charged aspects of communication about palliative care. This web-based Culture & End of Life unit can be updated to reflect trends in cultural consciousness, increases in cultural knowledge, or changes in cultural demographics. It transcends the specifics of time and setting by making cultural competence support available to providers at any career stage, and available for use at their own pace.