Cultural competency in clinical consultation at the Alberta Children's Hospital: how to deliver equitable, effective, and adequate health care to minority people

The need to provide culturally competent health care and social service has become a major concern for social workers, health professionals, and researchers. Many researchers suggest ways to implement culturally competent programs and services, such as diversity training for staff, the building of cordial relations with the communities around the service centers, implementing culturally responsive service policies, and hiring from the communities to create a workforce that reflects the diversity of service users. Others advocate the need to introduce programs such as interpretation service to eliminate language barriers. They also emphasize the development of practice guidelines which should include self-assessment, enquiry about a client's cultural background, and the need to acquire cultural knowledge. Although, the above suggestions see the need for changes in the traditional way of providing health care and social service, there has been little examination of the link between culture, illness, and healing. It shows that many practitioners do not see the importance of implementing culturally competent services and programs within the health care and social service settings. Further, much of the current debates on cultural competence focus on services and programs provided by mental health practitioners and nurses, but very little research has been conducted from a social work perspective. The Child and Women's Diversity Program at the Alberta Children's Hospital tries to correct these deficiencies in cultural competence by providing a cultural based consultation to social workers, physicians, and psychologists. --P. i.