Introduction
To achieve compliance with the Principal and GLW standards (outcomes 1-4) within CLAS, Hospital X plans to improve workforce diversity and multicultural competence. The necessary resources include minority organizations in the hospital’s area of operation (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services [USDHHS], n.d.). In collaboration with them, Hospital X will establish a committee to guide competency training development. Hospital X will revise its current operational policies to incorporate cultural competency training for all staff involved in direct contact with patients and introduce internal exams for the staff. Patient training materials will not be relevant to these standards. Instead, Hospital X will prepare detailed guidelines for the HR team to increase staff diversity and produce job descriptions in other languages apart from English.
The Communication/Language Assistance (CLA) Standard
To address the CLA standard (outcomes 5-8), Hospital X will pursue a range of initiatives. The accommodations will pertain to offering patient education in different languages, including Spanish and, if possible, Chinese, which will require new human resources, such as bilingual nurses and physicians. Hospital X will utilize external resources to prepare for providing effective/understandable care for linguistic minorities by building partnerships with trustworthy medical interpreter services in the area (USDHHS, n.d.). For staff training, the facility will also develop and implement anti-bias and cultural competency programs with modules devoted to each religious/cultural group in the area. Other training-based projects for meeting the standard will focus on deaf awareness and communication with hard-of-hearing/non-hearing clients, working with low-literacy clients, and complementary/alternative medicine awareness.
The Engagement/Continuous Improvement/Accountability (ECIA) Standard
To comply with the ECIA standard (outcomes 9-15), Hospital X will organize surveys to assess staff members’ cultural/linguistic capacities and appoint cultural ambassadors for each minority group prominent in the area. Hospital X will also contact external resources, such as minority/community organizations, to identify service improvement areas. For accommodations, minority patient satisfaction measurement tools will be produced in collaboration with these organizations to inform ongoing service assessment and assist in complaint management.
Conclusion
Staff training relevant to this standard will promote the implementation of the assessment tool, including selecting respondents and offering explanations of the data collection procedure. Biannual progress reports focused on minorities’ satisfaction with the service will be shared with the public and minority organizations.
Reference
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (n.d.). National culturally and linguistically appropriate services standards. Web.