Development and evaluation of a web-based breast cancer cultural competency course for primary healthcare providers.

Richard C Palmer,Irene D Mullan,Raquel Samson,Maria Triantis

doi:10.1186/1472-6920-11-59

Richard C Palmer, Irene D Mullan + Show 2 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1186/1472-6920-11-59

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Abstract

BackgroundTo develop and evaluate a continuing medical education (CME) course aimed at improving healthcare provider knowledge about breast cancer health disparities and the importance of cross-cultural communication in provider-patient interactions about breast cancer screening.MethodsAn interactive web-based CME course was developed and contained information about breast cancer disparities, the role of culture in healthcare decision making, and demonstrated a model of cross-cultural communication. A single group pre-/post-test design was used to assess knowledge changes. Data on user satisfaction was also collected.ResultsIn all, 132 participants registered for the CME with 103 completing both assessments. Differences between pre-/post-test show a significant increase in knowledge (70% vs. 94%; p < .001). Ninety-five percent of participants agreed that the web based training was an appropriate tool to train healthcare providers about cultural competency and health disparities.ConclusionThere was an overall high level of satisfaction among all users. Users felt that learning objectives were met and the web-based format was appropriate and easy to use and suggests that web-based CME formats are an appropriate tool to teach cultural competency skills. However, more information is needed to understand how the CME impacted practice behaviors.

Highlights

To develop and evaluate a continuing medical education (CME) course aimed at improving healthcare provider knowledge about breast cancer health disparities and the importance of cross-cultural communication in provider-patient interactions about breast cancer screening
We developed the CME course with the following aims: 1) to increase awareness about breast cancer morbidity and mortality; 2) to increase healthcare providers understanding of factors that influence decision to undergo breast cancer screening; 3) to elucidate how culture and cultural competence can influence breast cancer services; and 4) to develop skills that healthcare providers can use to help recommend breast cancer screening to women of diverse backgrounds
Based on formative work conducted in our needs assessment, we identified the inability of providers to effectively discuss breast cancer screening with their patients as a cause of low screening rates within the Montgomery Cares system

Summary

Introduction

To develop and evaluate a continuing medical education (CME) course aimed at improving healthcare provider knowledge about breast cancer health disparities and the importance of cross-cultural communication in provider-patient interactions about breast cancer screening. Breast cancer disparities research has attributed factors such as access to care, socioeconomic status, genetics, and tumor biology as possible causes of this inequity [1,4]. It is not well known how these factors, singularly or in combination, contribute to the disparity to a mosaic of different norms, attitudes, and behavioral beliefs about breast cancer [5]. Providers must recognize that women of different cultural groups have different beliefs and values that can influence adherence with a screening recommendation [11,17]

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