Click below to find out more:
- Epidemiology of population health
- Patient's healing traditions and systems
- Institutional cultural issues
- History of the patient
Epidemiology of Population Health
Epidemiology is the study of the distribution and determinants of diseases and health-related states in human populations. The Principles of Epidemiology and Public Health Practice is a free, downloadable PDF-course developed by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. This course covers basic epidemiology principles, concepts, and procedures useful in the surveillance and investigation of health-related states or events. It is designed for federal, state, and local government health professionals and private sector health professionals who are responsible for disease surveillance or investigation.
National, state, and county-level data can be found on the Data and Statistics page on this website.
Patient's Healing Traditions and Systems
Health professionals need to be aware of different cultural and ethnic healing traditions. These systems are often familiar and comforting to the patient, and it is important for the healthcare practitioner to respect these cultural beliefs. These systems derive not only from social, but from religious constructs as well. A culturally competent healthcare provider will not only respect these healing systems, but will be able to integrate them with treatment. The Vaden Health Center of Stanford University is a site devoted to traditional healing. The site provides a number of resources including African, Native American, South American, Asian, and Indian healing systems. They have a number of links to sites that deal with Christian, Jewish, and Voodoo healing traditions.
Institutional Cultural Issues
- A special issue of the American Journal of Managed Care outlines what patients, providers and institutions can do to eliminate healthcare disparities can be found here.
- Some
useful articles from the American Journal of Managed Care dealing with this topic:
- Healthcare Disparities Models for Change
- Claudia R. Baquet, MD, MPH; Olivia Carter-Pokras, PhD; and Barbara Bengen-Seltzer, MA, MBA
- Cultural Competency as It Intersects With Racial/Ethnic, Linguistic, and Class Disparities in Managed Healthcare Organizations
- Ruth Enid Zambrana, PhD; Christine Molnar, MS; Helen Baras Munoz, PhD; and Debbie Salas Lopez, MD
- Distributive Justice in American Healthcare: Institutions, Power, and the Equitable Care of Patients
- Robert W. Putsch, MD; and Linda Pololi, MD
- Healthcare Disparities Models for Change
- The National Center for Cultural Competence has developed a free assessment tool to help deal with institutional cultural issues. The Cultural and Linguistic Competence Policy Assessment (CLCPA) requires a quick registration in order to access the tool in PDF format. The NCCC has also developed a companion Guide for Using the Cultural and Linguistic Competence Policy Assessment Instrument that provides step-by-step instructions on how to conduct an organizational self-assessment process, which is also available after registration.
History of the Patient
Eliciting medical, social, cultural, and linguisitc histories from patients varies from group to group. The Health Research and Educational Trust Disparities Toolkit team has released a new, updated toolkit that provides hospitals, health systems, clinics, and health plans with information and resources for collecting this information efficiently, effectively, and respectfully. This free easy-to-use resource describes how to educate and inform hospital staff about the importance of data collection; how to implement a framework to collect race, ethnicity, and primary language data; and how to use these data to improve quality of care for all populations. Access the Toolkit a here.