Cultures of Health FOR HOSPITALS AND CARE GIVERS, HEALTHCARE EQUITY MEANS BETTER RESULTS
Years ago, Paula Smith met someone who had had an organ removed in a medical procedure, but didn’t know which organ. That’s when Smith was struck by the need for better interpretation services in healthcare. “So we started the interpretation training program, so that we could build capacity within the hospitals and healthcare systems,” she says. Smith is the longtime director of Southern New Hampshire Area Health Education Center, which provides workforce development for current and future health professionals. Language and communication access is considered one of the basic elements of providing culturally effective healthcare. Culturally effective healthcare organizations are institutions working to implement various practices that can improve care and reduce health disparities among a diverse patient population. Trinidad Tellez, former director of the Office of Health Equity for the NH Department of Health and Human Services, co-authored an issue brief in 2015 that created a framework to help healthcare organizations become more culturally effective. The brief was published in partnership with Brandeis University’s Institute on Assets and Social Policy. Tellez, who is a physician, says the framework draws from recommendations and best practices established >> n BY NOUR HABIB 30 603Diversity.com | February 2022
