Palm Beach County Medical Society

Palm Beach County is a very diverse community. Between 2000 and 2007, there were significant increases among all of the prevalent minority groups. The Hispanic population in our county has grown by 37% since the beginning of the decade. The number of Haitians continues to increase and Palm Beach County is now home to a growing population of Mayan Indians from Guatemala. There are now 149 languages and dialects spoken by students enrolled in the public school system.

With the changing demographics of our population come some challenges for the health care community.   As evidenced by the disparities in health status and outcomes for certain racial and ethnic populations, we have some very real opportunities before us. In addition to the fact that every culture and subculture has its own values, beliefs and practices around health care, there may also be language barriers. These factors can hinder the ability of the provider and patient to effectively communicate with one another and clear communication is, of course, essential to providing quality health care. 

Responding to the challenges, Palm Beach County Medical Society through its Cultural Competency Initiative (CCI) is committed to providing resources to strengthen the ability of health care providers to serve these diverse populations. We are taking a multi-pronged approach inclusive of the promotion of cultural competency, improving language access, and addressing problems associated with health literacy.

Allegany Franciscan Ministries is generously supporting the Cultural Competency Initiative toward educating, building capacity and engaging the medical community on issues of racial and ethnic health disparities and the need for cultural competency, language access and health literacy in Palm Beach County’s health care settings. The overarching goals are to:

1. Improve cultural competency in medical practice
2. Reduce/eliminate barriers to health care caused by limited-English Proficiency (LEP)
3. Examine barriers to health care and disparities that result from race or ethnicity & promote best practices for eliminating such barriers 

The CCI has embraced a 3-pronged approach that includes cultural competency, language access and health literacy and the specific objectives are to:

• Develop a Leadership Council that will have ongoing oversight of initiative
• Develop a comprehensive inventory of culturally and linguistically appropriate services
• Facilitate health care providers’ access to cultural and linguistically appropriate information, services, and resources
• Establish a Center of Excellence committed to cultural and linguistic competency
• Educate physicians and other health care providers on health disparities, language access, culturally competent and linguistically appropriate health care services
• Examine and addressing barriers to care that result in racial/ethnic disparities in health care and health status
• Explore development, improvement, and promotion of efficient and easily accessible local medically trained interpreters
• Support JCAHO’s parallel efforts in working with the hospitals in the area

The Leadership Council of the CCI convened in November 2008 and has representation from physicians, health plans, the local health department, health plans, and community-based organizations committed to the principles of cultural and linguistic competency. To provide a framework for CCI’s efforts and educational activities, the Leadership Council adopted a set of Guiding Principles.