In 2001, the Office of Minority Health developed standards for Culturally & Linguistically Appropriate Services. Yet based on the results of a recent NCAFP survey, family physicians in North Carolina lack knowledge of these standards and how they can impact patient compliance and healthcare outcomes.

To help improve health care outcomes across all cultures, the NCAFP is conducting a three-year initiative aimed at improving cultural competency among physicians delivering family medicine and primary care services. The initiative is being funded by the NC Health & Wellness Trust Fund Commission.

Improving cultural competency in primary care

The NCAFP Foundation's Health Disparities Project seeks to implement a comprehensive effort to increase physician knowledge of culturally and linguistically appropriate services by: working with the Carolinas Center for Medical Excellence to enroll practices in a 9-hour online curriculum; implementing an ongoing program on cultural competency & disparities through the Academy's Health Disparities Council utilizing Academy meetings and other communication vehicles; and developing intensive interventions in a few select practices through a local network involved in Community Care of North Carolina.

Key Project Goals

• Increase physician knowledge of risk factors of disparate population groups that may result in different patient-care decisions/algorithms (i.e., recommended screening times, etc.) directly related to cancer, diabetes and cardiovascular diseases.
• Increase physician understanding and awareness of cultural differences and how these differences may impact adherence to best practices, and patient behavior, and working with physicians to determine successful strategies to enhance physician-patient communication through culturally and linguistically appropriate services.
• Identify, highlight and pilot models of successful physician collaboration with disparate populations groups related to health behavior changes in order to increase the level and effectiveness of collaboration and physician outreach to the targeted population groups.

Key Activities & Processes

• Developing and implementing a comprehensive educational curriculum to improve physician knowledge and understanding of health disparities and how to provide culturally and linguistically services. Key portions of this curriculum will be delivered at the Academy's Winter Family Physician's Weekend & Annual Meeting and its Spring Family Physicians Weekend. Free two- to three-hour workshops will be offered to attendees.
• Educate Online -Utilizing the Online Cultural Competency in Health Care Curriculum developed by the National Office of Minority Health and administered through the Carolinas Center for Medical Excellence, the project will recruit a minimum of 50 primary care practices and 100 primary care providers to take part in this nine-hour online curriculum, entitled "A Family Physician's Practical Guide to Culturally Competent Care". The curriculum can be found at http://www.thinkculturalhealth.org/.
• Developing targeted practice-based initiatives at the local level in five to six family medicine practices - The project staff will work with a limited number of practices to develop more intensive efforts to address disparities (five or six practices already participating in the Community Care of North Carolina networks.) This effort will include working with the physicians to develop relationships and collaborations with other local organizations representing minority populations in order to address health literacy and behavior at the community level.