Culture Care Connection newsletter

As part of the Culture Care Connection initiative, Stratis Health produces the quarterly Culture Care Connection electronic newsletter for Minnesota clinics working to provide culturally competent care to their underserved and racially and ethnically diverse patients. The Culture Care Connection newsletter includes articles about specific racial, ethnic, and other underserved populations, the health issues unique to those populations, recommendations for successfully working with, treating, and communicating with these patients, as well as tools, resources, education and training opportunities, and multicultural events taking place in your community.

Current Issue

Culture Care Connection, Winter 2011/2012 (6-page PDF)

Culture Care Connection II Clinic Initiative Launches

Stratis Health is excited to announce the launching of a new UCare-funded initiative that focuses on advancing cultural knowledge and skills for clinical and non-clinical staff working with multicultural patient populations.

Liberians in Minnesota
Liberia has a unique historical relationship with the U.S. In 1820, the American Colonization Society sent nearly 300 freed American slaves to Liberia to colonize the country. Although there is no accurate, official record of the number of Liberians living in Minnesota today, Minnesota has one of the largest Liberian populations in the country, estimated to be greater than 35,000 Liberians.

Hepatitis B Virus (HBV) Status in Immigrant Populations
Although nearly all immigrants in Minnesota are tested for HBV, they do not currently receive their test results and have no documentation to show physicians.

Teach-Back: What Does Your Patient Really Understand?
The teach-back method of patient education validates patients’ under­standing of the information they receive from a health care provider, and allows providers to evaluate how well they communicated the information.

Past Issues

Culture Care Connection, Fall 2011 (7-page PDF)

Stratis Health Offers Free Assistance to Clinics to Improve Cultural Competence. Your practice may be eligible for free assistance in advancing your cultural knowledge and skills to better serve your culturally diverse patient populations. Bhutanese in Minnesota. The Bhutanese are a refugee group new to Minnesota. As of January 2010, 25,000 Bhutanese refugees had immigrated to the U.S. A History of Reducing Health Disparities in Minnesota. Stratis Health has a long record of success in reducing health disparities among communities of color and underserved populations, including projects with specific populations and clinical conditions, improving health literacy, and increasing the cultural competence and effectiveness of health care providers serving culturally diverse populations. Minnesota Rural Palliative Care Initiative. Ten rural communities in Minnesota have made advances toward establishing or strengthening palliative care services through interdisciplinary community-based teams and multiple health care settings.

Culture Care Connection, Summer 2011 (7-page PDF)

Do You Know if Your Patients Are Deaf or Hard of Hearing? Communication between the deaf and hard of hearing and their health care providers is a significant issue and has a direct effect on patient health care and outcomes. Hearing Loss Train-the-Trainer Program. The West 7th Community Center, Minnesota Department of Human Services, and University of Minnesota Department of Speech and Language Services are working with block nurse programs to educate health professionals and the pubic on how to work effectively with people who have hearing loss. Deaf Community Health Worker Project. Deaf Community Health Workers in the health care setting help reduce medical errors, improve communication, and increase patient-doctor trust. Looking at Arthur Kleinman's Eight Questions. A model for resolving conflict between medical wisdom and cultural beliefs. Using Religion to Reduce Disparities in Cancer Care. A community-based project that incorporates religion into reaching women who don't traditionally seek preventive care. RARE: Reducing Avoidable Readmissions Effectively. RARE partners are working to engage hospitals and providers across the continuum of care in preventing avoidable hospital readmissions and decreasing health care costs.

Culture Care Connection, Winter 2011 (8-page PDF)

Add Your Name to the Culture Care Connection Speakers Listing. Stratis Health is developing a Culture Care Connection Speakers Listing to unite Minnesota health care organizations with Minnesota-based speakers who have a specific cultural knowledge and expertise in areas, such as specific cultures, cultural competence, race, ethnicity, language, and the national Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services standards. Somali Muslim Culture and Vaccines. Porcine gelatin is a protein used in some vaccines to keep them stable and maintain their effectiveness. Patients whose cultures do not handle or eat pork, such as Somali Muslims, may not want these vaccines. Talk with Somali leaders in your community to better understand the health care needs and preferences of your Somali Muslim patients. Mexican Americans in Minnesota. In 2009, the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey reported 30,746,000 Mexicans in the U.S., compared to 46,822,000 Hispanics/Latinos overall. Mexicans comprised 30 percent of foreign-born residents in 2009. Minnesota had 41,600 foreign-born Mexican residents, representing 16 percent of Minnesota's total foreign-born population of 260,000, or 0.8 percent of the total population according to the 2000 Census. Culture Care Connection Web Site Wins 2010 MHSCN Beacon Award. An award for excellence in health care marketing from the Minnesota Health Strategy and Communications Network. Entries were evaluated by industry peers from the Tennessee Society for Healthcare Marketing and Public Relations. Many Faces of Community Health Celebrates Its Fifth Conference. MFCH’s 2010 Conference celebrated its fifth year by exploring the “roots and redesign” of community health centers.

Culture Care Connection, Fall 2010 (8-page PDF)

How Well Do You Meet National Cultural and Linguistic Standards? Take the Culture Care Connection CLAS Assessment to understand more fully how your organization's systems, policies, and practices impact its ability to meet Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services standards. Karen People in Minnesota. Nearly 4,000 Karen refugees from Burma and refugee camps in Thailand live in Minnesota. St. Paul is home to the largest Karen refugee population in the U.S. Minnesota's Increasing Diversity. Changing demographics in Minnesota will require a mindful approach to providing effective clinical care. Is Generational Poverty a Societal Problem That Can Be Solved? Inequality of income in America has increased over the past 25 years, with 20 percent of households controlling the income. The number of families living in poverty is increasing.

Culture Care Connection, Summer 2010 (7-page PDF)

Stratis Health Culture Care Connection Initiative Wraps Up! Clinics that successfully completed the Culture Care Connection initiative are receiving results of the Post-CLAS (Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services) Assessment, a summary comparison of pre- and post-CLAS assessments, and recommendations for future strategies. See a summary of aggregate clinic results. Asian Indians in Minnesota: The Asian Indian population is the second largest Asian community in Minnesota. The Asian Indian population in Minnesota was more than 30,000 in 2006. Community University Health Care Center (CUHCC), Minneapolis, MN: CUHCC is not only a multiservice community health center for non-English speaking and multicultural patients, it is a multicultural community, where people are welcomed, educated, and have their medical and non-medical needs met. Minnesota Diabetes Collaborative Celebrates 10th Anniversary: The Minnesota Diabetes Collaborative, in celebration of its 10th anniversary working to improve diabetes care in Minnesota, has joined forces with the heart health community to become the Minnesota Diabetes and Heart Health Collaborative (MN-DC). Resources for Your Clinic: See Web links and upcoming events that can aid your clinic in its work to improve cultural competence.

Culture Care Connection, Spring 2010 (5-page PDF)

Culture Care Connection Initiative: Clinics are ready to take the post-CLAS assessment. CentraCare Clinic Women & Children in St. Cloud is using a systematic approach to implement its cultural competence improvement strategies. Cambodians in Minnesota: Cultural patterns, clinical issues, and health care recommendations related to Minnesota's Cambodian immigrant population. Minnesota County Profiles: Find demographic information on your county on the Culture Care Connection Web site. 2010 Community Health Workers Conference: Community health workers help to lower health disparities and bridge the gap between cultures and health care systems. Social Determinants of Health: Social determinants of health are the social and economic conditions in which people are born, grow, live, work, and age, including factors such as lower income, food insecurity, and living in crowded housing.

Culture Care Connection, Winter 2009 (6-page PDF)

Culture Care Connection Initiative: Clinic Progress: Clinic progress on completing cultural competency curriculum, action plans, and staff education. Ethiopians in Minnesota: Cultural patterns, clinical issues, and health care recommendations related to Minnesota's Ethiopian immigrant population. Culture Care Connection Clinics Present at 2009 Many Faces of Community Health Conference: The Annex Teen Clinic and Hennepin Faculty Associates describe the strategies and practices they are implementing to increase cultural sensitivity and competency in their daily interactions with patients. Also: Resources for Your Clinic, Holiday Celebrations, Holiday Plants Used as Herbal Treatments Around the World

Culture Care Connection, Fall 2009 (6-page PDF)

Culture Care Connection Clinics Implementing Action Plans: Examples of how participating clinics are implementing cultural competence strategies in their clinics. Vietnamese in Minnesota: Cultural patterns, clinical issues, and health care recommendations related to Vietnamese Americans. Culture Connections Health Literacy Tips: Tips for identifying low health literacy issues among your patients. Over-the-Phone Interpreters Eliminate Delays in Care: One clinic's perspective on using over-the-phone interpreters with their non-English or limited-English speaking patients. Also: Resources for Your Clinic, Multicultural Calendar.

Culture Care Connection, Summer 2009 (6-page PDF)

Iraqis in Minnesota: Cultural patterns, clinical issues, and health care recommendations related to your Iraqi patients. Multicultural Communication Tips: Diverse Assessment: Assessing patients to develop a personalized care plan based on culture and diversity. Minnesota Health Literacy Partnership: A collaboration of Minnesota health care consumers, health care organizations, and literacy groups formed to help coordinate health literacy efforts across the state. Culture Care Connection 2009-2010 Initiative: Announcement of initiative participants and update for participating clinics. Resources for Your Clinic: Resources to assist with planning and implementing health care quality improvement projects that impact minority populations. Multicultural Events: Local community events that provide information and education on racially and ethnically diverse populations.

Culture Care Connection, Spring 2009 (6-page PDF)

Welcome to the first issue of Culture Care Connection: A quarterly electronic newsletter for Minnesota clinic staff and others working to provide culturally competent care to their underserved racially and ethnically diverse patients. Minnesota’s African American Population: In 2005, Minnesota’s African American population was 218,400. It is projected to double by 2035. Multicultural Communication: Engage your patients and enhance your care delivery using multicultural communication techniques. Neighborhood Economic Conditions Impact Health: Obesity is increasing faster among black and Hispanic populations than among whites; lack of fruits and vegetables in the diet contributes to obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease; and socio-economic status is related to the amount of fruits and vegetables people in disadvantaged neighborhoods consume. Culture Care Connection 2009-2010 Initiative: Stratis Health is providing technical assistance to a second group of primary care clinics to help enhance their cultural competence. Resources for Your Clinic: The Exchange is an online resource for translated health education materials in the languages most frequently spoken in Minnesota. The Minneapolis Urban League and St. Paul Urban League assist African Americans and other culturally diverse groups in the achievement of social and economic equality.