Health professionals should consider the Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services (CLAS) standards whenever working in regions with diverse populations. This is a powerful model for transforming the quality of care and services available to different individuals. This essay gives a detailed analysis of the unique issues surrounding the use of CLAS in medical practice.
Cultural Competence Training
The identified physical therapists are preparing for cultural competence training sessions to meet the diverse needs of patients from the Hispanic, African American, and Cape Verdean races. The success of the learning process will depend on the preparations made by these professionals (Ritter & Graham, 2017). The most important step is to engage in continuous learning to know more about the cultural traits, behaviors, religious beliefs, and languages of the races in the targeted inner-city community. They can also consider how members of such groups communicate, worship, and share ideas. They should recognize and elicit the beneficiaries’ preferences and expectations.
Feedback from Participants
The intended training program will equip physical therapists with adequate linguistic competencies that can guide them whenever working with non-English speakers. Several steps can guide the educators to acquire feedback from the professionals. The first one is encouraging them to interact with the targeted patients or community members as part of an evaluation process. The trainer can utilize this strategy to identify current achievements and key areas for improvement.
The second one is designing a teaching practicum to monitor the learners. This strategy is essential since it will empower the trainer to examine if they have recorded positive results or not (HHS Office of Minority Health, 2016). The last one is to offer assignments and encourage the therapists to ask questions whenever necessary. This approach is appropriate since the instructor will identify existing strengths and gaps.
CLAS Standards
CLAS standards are fifteen action plans aimed at advancing equity in health, improving quality, and eliminating disparities. Practitioners and institutions focusing on these principles will implement superior care delivery models to meet the needs of diverse patient populations. These standards are essential to healthcare today since they provide a blueprint for health managers to pursue initiatives that will result in timely, personalized, and high-quality medical services (Aggarwal, 2017). This framework also eliminates most of the disparities that have existed in the United States due to various factors, including the language barrier and economic inequality.
Evaluation of Training: Approaches
Healthcare organizations should introduce superior programs to train their medical professionals about the importance of CLAS. Several approaches are essential to evaluate the effectiveness of such processes. The first one entails the use of reviews and journal entries. This method is crucial since it supports the collection of useful information, such as acquired competencies and gaps for improvement. The second initiative is the use of questionnaires.
This is an appropriate model because it guides trainers to monitor the success of the process. Those involved can consider these attributes or information: acquired skills, new achievements, gaps and weaknesses, and personal philosophies (Ritter & Graham, 2017). The third method can be the use of tests or assignments. These can focus on various types of data, including personal interpretation of CLAS and application of various CLAS standards in healthcare. This method is necessary for identifying the trainees’ achievements.
Conclusion
The above discussion has supported the effectiveness and importance of CLAS standards in healthcare. Practitioners and institutions should embrace such principles to minimize existing gaps in care delivery. Medical facilities can introduce training programs to equip professionals with cultural competencies and empower them to become skilled caregivers.
References
Aggarwal, N. K. (2017). Adoption of the National CLAS Standards in state mental health agencies: A nationwide policy analysis. Psychiatric Services, 68(8), 856-858. Web.
HHS Office of Minority Health. (2016). Fundamentals of the National CLAS Standards [Video file]. Web.
Ritter, L. A., & Graham, D. H. (2017). Multicultural health. Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning.