Enhancing cultural competence among hospice staff

A critical component in making hospice and palliative care services accessible and acceptable to diverse communities is preparation of all providers to enhance cultural competence. This article reports a study designed to test an educational intervention aimed at expanding cultural awareness, sensitivity, and competence with a multi-disciplinary and multilevel team of hospice workers. The purpose of this quasi-experimental, longitudinal, crossover design was to test the effects of an educational intervention for multidisciplinary hospice providers. Findings demonstrated that even with a modest face-to-face intervention, cultural competence scores were significantly greater after the educational intervention for participants in both groups. Although the intervention proved successful at enhancing cultural competence scores among diverse types of hospice workers, limitations and logistic insights gained from this pilot suggest the need for examination of alternative methods of program delivery.