The patient perspective on diversity-sensitive care: a systematic review

Area of Science:

• Health Disparities Research
• Patient-Centered Care Studies
• Cultural Competence in Healthcare

Background:

• Diversity-sensitive care aims to reduce health disparities.
• A gap exists in understanding the patient perspective on this care.
• This review explores patient experiences, expectations, and satisfaction.

Purpose of the Study:

• To describe the patient perspective on diversity-sensitive care.
• To identify patient experiences and expectations.
• To assess patient satisfaction with diversity-sensitive care.

Main Methods:

• Systematic review of 34 articles.
• Searched multiple databases (Medline, Embase, etc.) in December 2022.
• Convergent mixed-methods design with thematic synthesis.

Main Results:

• Diversity-sensitive care has three components: patient-centered, culturally tailored, and concordant care.
• Patients reported dissatisfaction with communication, cultural tailoring, and provider concordance.
• Linguistic, ethnic, cultural, and gender concordance are crucial for quality care.

Conclusions:

• Patient perspective on diversity-sensitive care is multifaceted.
• Competencies include communication, empathy, self-awareness, and cultural adjustment.
• Patients experience dissatisfaction across all components of diversity-sensitive care.