Promoting Health Literacy through the Office of Minority Health CLAS Standards
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Transcript of Promoting Health Literacy through the Office of Minority Health CLAS Standards
Promoting Health Literacy through the Office of Minority
Health CLAS Standards
Guadalupe Pacheco, MSWProject Officer, Think Cultural
HealthHHS Office of Minority Health
Overview
• Introduction
• Health Literacy and the HHS OMH CLAS Standards
• Health Literacy and the HHS Office of Minority Health
HHS Office of Minority Health
• Mission: To improve the health of racial and ethnic minority populations through the development of health policies and programs that will eliminate health disparities
HHS Office of Minority Health
• National Standards for Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services in Health Care (CLAS Standards)
• National Partnership for Action to End Health Disparities
Health Literacy
• Determinants of limited health literacy
• Populations most likely to have limited health literacy
Source: HHS 2010
Health Literacy
• Health literacy affects quality of care
• Disproportionate impact on Limited English Proficient individuals and racial and ethnic minorities
• Grave implications for health outcomes for diverse communities
Source: HHS 2010
Health Literacy and the HHS OMH CLAS Standards • National Standards for Culturally and
Linguistically Appropriate Services in Health Care (CLAS Standards)– Culturally Competent Care– Language Access Services– Organizational Supports
Health Literacy and the HHS OMH CLAS Standards • Culturally Competent Care
– Patient-centered care– Fact-centered vs. attitude/skill-centered
approach– Disease vs. illness
• Language Access Services– Interpersonal communication best practices – Strategies to provide language access services– Interpretation and translation
• Organizational Supports– Training staff in cultural competency– Collecting patient data– Community partnerships
• Enhancement Initiative: Fall 2011
• Revisiting the CLAS Standards to broaden their scope and advance the field for the next decade.
Health Literacy and the HHS OMH CLAS Standards
• Understandable communication to individuals who have low literacy skills is part of culturally and linguistically competent services.
• Cultural and linguistic competency of health professionals can mitigate the effects of low health literacy.
Health Literacy and the HHS OMH CLAS Standards
Health Literacy and the HHS Office of Minority
Health • National Partnership for Action to
End Health Disparities – Mobilize and connect individuals and
organizations across the country to create a Nation free of health disparities, with quality health outcomes for all people
Health Literacy and the HHS Office of Minority
Health • National Partnership for Action to
End Health Disparities – Stated strategies to eliminate health
disparities include a discussion of improving health literacy and communication
• National Action Plan to Improve Health Literacy’s goals include:
– Promote changes in the health care system that improve health information, communication, informed decision making, and access to health services
– Support and expand local efforts to provide culturally and linguistically appropriate health information services in the community
Health Literacy and the HHS Office of Minority
Health
• OMH supports these goals through:
– CLAS Standards– Think Cultural Health: a cultural
competency clearinghouse
Health Literacy and the HHS Office of Minority
Health
Think Cultural Health• Continuing education programs that
equip health professionals with awareness, knowledge, and skills to treat diverse patients
• Up-to-date information on issues related to cultural competency and health disparities
• Tracking of cultural competency legislation around the country
Health Literacy and the HHS Office of Minority
Health
Summary
• Health literacy fundamentally impacts quality of care, and limited health literacy among racial and ethnic minorities have grave implications for health outcomes for diverse communities.
• Cultural and linguistic competency of health professionals can mitigate the effects of low health literacy
• The HHS Office of Minority Health plays an integral role in advancing the goals of the National Action Plan to Improve Health Literacy.
Guadalupe Pacheco, MSWProject Officer
Office of Minority Health, [email protected]
For More Information
www.ThinkCulturalHealth.hhs.gov