The CLAS Challenge: Promoting Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services in Health Care

Abstract

Vista Community Clinic's Cultural Awareness Program (CAP), funded by the US Office of Minority Health, aims to institutionalize culturally and linguistically appropriate services as outlined in the federal Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services (CLAS) Standards for the diverse San Diego County population through the promotion of organizational change at all levels of health care. The CAP program hopes to contribute to this end through offering educational sessions, aiding health care organizations in making changes to their structure in the areas of culture and language, as well as through the development of a website and a resource manual. Facilitating systems change in culturally and linguistically appropriate service delivery has proven to be the most challenging component of the CAP program. Based on seven years of experience in this area, CAP program staff proposes that the success of culturally and linguistically appropriate services depends on the degree to which organizational “buy-in” is achieved, the enforcement of the standards and the ability of health care organizations to work in collaboration with the community in which they serve.     

Chapter 11. The Future of Culturally Competent Mental Health Care for Latino Immigrants

Abstract

This chapter underscores the importance of cultural competence in the provision of effective mental health services to Latino immigrants. Culturally competent mental health care must be understood within the context of a social-political-economic framework that is changing on a continual basis. Health and mental health care reform for Latino immigrants must be linked to both practice-based research efforts and timely diffusion of best practice innovations. Cultural competence must be integrated as a valued component of the organizational structure of mental health systems of care.     

Competency-based Curriculum Mapping as a Tool for Continuous Improvement for Master of Public Administration (MPA) Programs

Curriculum mapping (CM) is an assessment tool used to articulate and revise an academic curriculum. Network of Schools of Public Policy, Affairs and Administration (NASPAA) accredited graduate programs in public policy, public affairs, and public administration are required to demonstrate a competency-based curriculum development and assessment methods. This article provides the rationale and approach used to generate a competency-based Master of Public Administration (MPA) curriculum and describes a systematic approach to incorporating program learning objectives, stakeholder engagement, competency development or revisions by faculty, into competency-based CM. The competency-based curriculum is relatively new for MPA programs. While there are many potential benefits and challenges, this article focuses on the utility of flexible mission-oriented curriculum design and its ability to link competencies to assessment strategies for MPA programs.