Enhancing Pediatric Workforce Diversity and Providing Culturally Effective Pediatric Care: Implications for Practice, Education, and Policy Making

Abstract

This policy statement serves to combine and update 2 previously independent but overlapping statements from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) on culturally effective health care (CEHC) and workforce diversity. The AAP has long recognized that with the ever-increasing diversity of the pediatric population in the United States, the health of all children depends on the ability of all pediatricians to practice culturally effective care. CEHC can be defined as the delivery of care within the context of appropriate physician knowledge, understanding, and appreciation of all cultural distinctions, leading to optimal health outcomes. The AAP believes that CEHC is a critical social value and that the knowledge and skills necessary for providing CEHC can be taught and acquired through focused curricula across the spectrum of lifelong learning. This statement also addresses workforce diversity, health disparities, and affirmative action. The discussion of diversity is broadened to include not only race, ethnicity, and language but also cultural attributes such as gender, religious beliefs, sexual orientation, and disability, which may affect the quality of health care. The AAP believes that efforts must be supported through health policy and advocacy initiatives to promote the delivery of CEHC and to overcome educational, organizational, and other barriers to improving workforce diversity.

Health Care Providers’ Perspectives of Providing Culturally Competent Care in the NICU

“…Hurst (2004) advocated for resources to facilitate the provision of family-centered care such as interpretation services and transportation. That being said, even with a background of family-centered tenets, organizations require a higher level of integration of culturally competent care to address deficiencies felt by health care providers and immigrant families (Bracht et al, 2002;Wiebe & Young, 2011;Pletcher, Rimsza, & Within the layer, culture of caring, the empirical strategies that health care providers in this study prescribed to buffer the fragile nature of interactions were components of culturally competent care. Health care providers described ways in which they were able to adapt their practice and philosophy to incorporate provision of care for the family's extraneous circumstances.…”

Caring for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Questioning Youth in Inclusive and Affirmative Environments

“…Not only should the needs assessment serve to help providers understand new services they might develop or preexisting services they might improve, but it also should help clinical leadership understand new measures for quality improvement. 72 For example, one process measure might be asking all patients about sexual orientation and gender identity or about a preferred name and pronouns for the youth, and recording this in a prominent place in the patient care flow (for youth comfortable with this information being freely available) or in a confidential part of the electronic medical record (for youth who wish to maintain the privacy of this information). Youth might also help providers develop LGBTQ youth-specific patient satisfaction measures for the clinic.…”

Improving Diversity, Inclusion, and Representation in Radiology and Radiation Oncology Part 1: Why These Matter

“…Medical specialty societies have adopted policies or implemented task forces specifically to enhance diversity or reduce disparities related to their specialties, including the American College of Physicians [43], the American College of Surgeons [44,45], and the American Academy of Pediatrics [46]. The AMA has adopted numerous policies regarding gender minority patients and physicians, primarily around nondiscrimination, cultural competence, elimination of health disparities, and supportive environments for career and development of LGBT students and physicians [47].…”