Culturally Informed Care

At MultiCare, we believe in providing quality health care to our diverse communities. This care is respectful and addresses the cultural, spiritual, language and other unique needs of our patients and families. We aim to provide culturally informed care by giving MultiCare employees training, resources and consulting services.

Culturally informed care allows us to equitably serve the needs of all. We also collaborate with community partners to address health disparities throughout our service areas.

Culturally informed care refers to the ability of health care professionals to work and communicate well with people of different cultures by being respectful of and responsive to health beliefs, practices and linguistic needs. The benefits of providing culturally informed care include increased patient trust, improved care outcomes and patient satisfaction.

Culturally informed care: Computer-based learning (CBL) and in-person trainings

We provide Culturally Informed Care 101 and 201 CBL modules, mandatory for all staff systemwide. The CBL training modules equip our staff with the tools and techniques for culturally informed care.

In-person trainings are also available to MultiCare departments systemwide. These trainings are tailored to fit the needs of the requesting department and include hands-on activities and case studies to more deeply explore concepts introduced in the CBL modules.

Content includes, but is not limited to:

• Setting the stage/self-reflection: Provide staff with the definition of cultural competency and diversity. Encourage staff to reflect on these ideas and the unique challenges faced by diverse patient groups
• Demographics: Share information about the populations MultiCare serves within our hospital service areas/counties, including top spoken languages
• Exploring health disparities: Explain health disparities and why they exist, including patient, provider and organizational system factors. Highlight disparities faced by minority groups. Define CLAS standards
• Stereotypes, biases and assumptions: Provide definition of stereotypes, biases and assumptions, explaining how they can impact patient care and staff interactions. Offer activities and scenarios to raise self-awareness and provide tools to overcome stereotypes
• Cultural considerations: Describe and identify cultural and generational competence. Provide examples of how cultural/generational and spiritual beliefs may impact a patient’s health care experience, specifically for minority and religious groups. Explore the challenges and benefits of working with/providing care for diverse groups. Identify ways for health care providers and staff to build cultural awareness and sensitivity
• Cross-cultural communication: Define cross-cultural communication. Describe language assistance modalities and functions across MultiCare. Offer activities to show the benefits of providing culturally informed care

In partnership with the Susan G. Komen Foundation, Rainbow Center and Oasis Youth Center, we’ve given LBGTQ+ core competency trainings and LGBTQ+ breast health competency trainings to our staff.

Available CBLs include:

• LGBTQ+ Core Competency
• SOGI-P and REAL-D Annual Education