Health professionals' access to diversity training across Denmark
Janne Sorensen1, Hejdi Abdelhamid1, Julia Kadin Funge2
1Danish Research Centre for Migration, Ethnicity and Health, Department of Public Health, University of Copenhagen.
Danish Medical Journal
|April 30, 2025
Summary
Most health professionals in Denmark lack diversity competence training, highlighting a need for improved education. Regions, municipalities, and educational institutions should offer continuing medical education to address health disparities for migrants and ethnic minorities.
Area of Science:
- Public Health
- Healthcare Education
- Cultural Competence
Background:
- Health disparities persist between migrants and ethnic minorities (MEM) and the majority population in Denmark.
- Increasing diversity necessitates healthcare tailored to MEM.
- Diversity competence (DC) training for health professionals (HP) is crucial for addressing these disparities.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate existing diversity competence (DC) training activities for health professionals (HP) across various sectors in Denmark.
Main Methods:
- An email survey was distributed to 295 health education programs, municipalities, regions, unions, medical societies, and government health authorities in Denmark.
- A total of 138 surveys were analyzed after excluding 10, achieving a response rate of 46.8%.
- Data collection occurred between February 21 and May 12, 2022.
Main Results:
- All surveyed health education programs incorporated some level of DC into their curricula, though DC training for teaching staff was limited.
- DC training availability and perceived relevance varied across municipalities and regions.
- Some municipalities cited a lack of MEM citizens as a reason for not offering DC training to HPs.
Conclusions:
- A significant gap exists in adequate diversity competence training access for most health professionals.
- Continuing medical education in DC should be prioritized by regions, municipalities, and educational institutions for healthcare workers.
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