Multicultural Health Diplomacy: A Proposed Culturally Competent Diplomacy Model for Health Professionals

Abstract

Diplomatic skills are essential for international relations and foreign affairs. However, diplomacy can be valuable for other global initiatives, such as public health. In many countries, healthcare has been affected by migration and has impacted individuals from various cultural backgrounds. As perceptions of health vary among cultural groups, so do the health services needed to accommodate those groups. Some healthcare challenges include limitations in communication and cultural literacy. Therefore, it is imperative to review innovative tools being used to accommodate these global health movements. Multicultural Health Diplomacy is a proposed model for the purpose of training health professionals with a set of skills suitable for engaging in transcultural healthcare. Fundamental to health education and healthcare services, these skills can serve as a model to create a healthcare system which supports the diversity and well-being of all individuals. Multicultural Health Diplomacy is inspired from Global Health Diplomacy, which has its foundation in foreign policy. Therefore, using these skills at the community level can also serve as a conduit for bridging ground level healthcare to foreign policy. The purpose of this paper is to review current trends in multicultural health and diplomacy training models used across several industries. The current status of global migration is highlighted to express the need for cultural competency training for health professionals at institutional, organizational, community, and individual levels. In particular, this paper focuses on the use of diplomacy skills in cultural health competency training to aid in the interaction and ongoing relationships between healthcare professionals and the diversity of individuals receiving healthcare services.