This webconference was hosted by the National Quality Center for Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program grantees on November 9, 2007. The session outlines the need to address health disparities in HIV care by improving the cultural competence of services. Suggestions for assessing disparities in programs are provided and experiences and strategies to tackle these challenges are shared by co-presenters from the Tri-City Health Center Part C program and the Oakland EMA. Specific PDSA tests of change for improving cultural competence are provided as examples to help get programs started.

Learning objectives include:

• Assess your program’s need to improve cultural competence
• Learn strategies to address cultural challenges to reduce health disparities by incorporating cultural competence measures and improvement projects
• Know where to assess cultural competence resources for health care providers

Materials from the call, available here in the downloadable file, include:

• Presentation: Addressing Cultural Competence with QI
• Handout: Cultural Competence PDSAs

The following tools and resources may be useful as you begin your work addressing cultural competence at your program:

• A Guide to Addressing Cultural Competence as a Quality Improvement Issue in HIV Care
• Cultural Competence in Health Care: Emerging Frameworks and Practical Approaches
• Compendium of Cultural Competence Initiatives
• Resources for Cross-Cultural Health Care
• Cultural Competence Resources for Health Care Providers
• Indicators of Cultural Competence in Health Care Delivery Organizations: An Organizational Cultural Competence Assessment Profile
• AIDS Education and Training Centers: Guiding Principles for Cultural Competency
• Cultural Competency Bibliography
• Health Disparities Collaboratives

Download the file for complete instructions.

**Please note that the downloadable tool file is in ZIP format, and contains two files. Windows XP will automatically open the ZIP file; for other operating systems a tool like WinZip (or other free alternatives) should be used.