Workforce Language Services

In a recent paper in the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology, Neil Powe, M.D., M.P.H. states: “It’s time to get serious about equitable health care for all of us.”  Both this paper and another recent paper enumerated the various disparities in the prevention and care of chronic kidney disease. 

The Medical News article offers a systematic approach to closing disparities in care based on race, native language, and socio-economic class, including increasing research on what drives these disparities, fostering a sense of personal responsibility in caregivers, and advocating for change in health care policies. 

Exerpted from the article:

“We should also embrace our responsibility to become aware of situations where disparities exist and be attentive to our biases in interacting with patients or providing the services they need,” he said.

Drs. Norris and Nissenson wrote that communication between the healthcare community and patients needs to improve through a renewed emphasis on training professionals to eliminate disparities. In particular, there should be a stronger focus on cultural competency at the individual and system level.

I particularly like the fact that Drs. Norris and Nissenson advocate for cultural competency both at the individual and system level.  Focusing on the nexus of the two will create both a sense of personal responsibility for increased attention to healing these disparities and will offer institutionalized support of moving towards cultural competency.