Kenneth Fung (University of Toronto); Lisa Andermann (University of Toronto); Hung-Tat (Ted) Lo (University of Toronto)

Synopsis

Cultural Competence (CC) is a cornerstone for providing effective healthcare to diverse populations. There is a dearth of developed teaching methods to enhance CC. This workshop will give participants a practical framework to understand CC; develop a CC curriculum; and employ effective teaching tools to enhance CC.

Purpose

To be clinically competent, Cultural Competence (CC) has become an essential requisite in an increasingly multicultural society. CC consists of an overlapping set of attitudes, knowledge, skills, and an awareness and attention to power differences, which enable effective care to culturally diverse populations.To increase CC, a variety of teaching tools may be employed to serve this end.The purpose of the workshop is to provide participants with: (i) a framework for CC; (ii) a model of CC curriculum development; and (iiI) an array of innovative tools for teaching CC.

Format

In this workshop, our framework for CC and our integrated cultural psychiatry curriculum at the University of Toronto will be presented with a brief slide presentation. Participants will be engaged in interactive learning exercises to increase the repertoire of methods and skills used in CC training. A large group discussion will follow to familiarize participants with the variety of tools for teaching CC.

Expected Outcomes

Upon completion of this workshop, participants will be able to:

1. Describe foundational concepts of cultural competence
2. Construct a curriculum for cultural competence training
3. Select and employ effective teaching methods to enhance cultural competence