Cross-Cultural Communication in Healthcare: Training, Education, and Integration

• In Event: 2021 Education Research Service Project Invited Poster Session

Abstract

Cross-cultural communication and diversity training and education have been explored across a limited number of medical domains; in fact, training and education focused on improving cross-cultural communication for the purposes of better addressing critical health needs of populations who have been historically marginalized and underserved is uncommon and understudied. The fundamental justification of global health education curriculum in the form of a cross-cultural experience is to inspire medical trainees to understand culturally-based patient perceptions, address inequities in underserved populations and improve patient care through heightened provider communication, cultural sensitivity, and directed patient education. Cross-cultural education and training initiatives as part of medical residency programs are increasing throughout the United States, with approximately one-half of accredited MD-granting medical schools in the United States having established global health initiatives through their institutions. These programs have arisen in part due to increased demand and enthusiasm by residents to participate in such programs, yet little research has evaluated their efficacy in a systematic exploration of patient and provider perceptions and interactions. The Department of Urology at The Ohio State University seeks to extend and evaluate a Global Health Education Program for its medical trainees. The proposed project will (1) extend and evaluate the impact of a pilot “local global health” curriculum for medical trainees working with a community free clinic via novel platforms of patient-provider communication (previously established face-to-face/live encounters + proposed teleheath and mobile patient portal follow-up encounters) and (2) use the data gathered in Aim 1 to specifically develop and assess novel cross-cultural healthcare simulations for the purposes of medical trainee cross-cultural communication curriculum.

Author

• Tasha Posid, The Ohio State University - Columbus