Joint Commission Calls For Improved Diversity Approaches

Last week, the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) released a report targeting strategies to address language and cultural issues as barriers to care in the nation's hospitals.

The report, titled Hospitals, Language, and Culture: A Snapshot of the Nation, Compiled List of Resources, lists recommendations based on a study of how 60 hospitals across the country provide health care to culturally and linguistically diverse patient populations.

"Lingustically and culturally appropriate care has a direct impact on quality and safety, and is a growing issue that is not going to go away," said Paul M. Schyve, M.D., senior vice president of JCAHO.  The study shows inconsistent practice within hospitals and throughout hospitals in the aggregate.

Recommendations include establishing a centralized program to coordinate services relating to language and culture as a part of an organization's commitment to quality; implementing a uniform framework for systematic collection of data on race, ethnicity and language; working with staff to find ways to meet the needs of diverse populations, and providing ongoing training to staff on how and when to access language services; formalizing processes for translating patient education materials such as patient rights and informed consent documents into languages other than English and using health care interpreters to facilitate communication and education; and others.

Copies of the report are available at no cost at the JCAHO Web site.