Kaiser Permanente Women's Health Center of Excellence in Culturally Competent Care

Abstract

In 2002, Kaiser Permanente (KP) launched its Women's Health Center of Excellence in Culturally Competent Care in the KP Northern California Region's Greater Southern Alameda Area (GSAA) Service Area, which includes the KP Fremont and Hayward Medical Centers. The KP National Diversity Program Offices' Institute for Culturally Competent Care made this designation of excellence possible. The Institute has awarded designation of Center of Excellence in Culturally Competent Care to KP facilities that are hallmark models of health care delivery to KP's diverse membership. The designation is an internal KP award. Centers develop innovative approaches to delivering clinical care customized to respond to the unique cultural beliefs and health practices of diverse member populations. The KP Women's Health Center of Excellence establishes the GSAA Service Area as a leader in delivering personalized health care, education, and services for women. The Center will integrate three necessary principles for delivering health care in the 21st century: Awareness and knowledge of diversity; Respect for individual beliefs, customs, and practices; and Culturally competent care. The GSAA Service Area continues to reflect a growing multicultural and multilingual population that is highly diverse and has substantial language requirements: At least 56 languages have been identified among KP members in the East Bay. According to the 2003 Meteor Survey, the GSAA KP membership is 49% white, 20% Hispanic, 20% Asian, and 6% black. Current data indicate that marketing efforts are not penetrating a substantial Asian population—in particular, the Chinese and Latino populations, which will continue to grow. Women with limited English proficiency are known to go to extra lengths to access and receive health care services for themselves and for their family members. Recent data from the KP Fremont and Hayward Medical Centers show that women are the major users of health care services. Women are the largest group of patients in all departments except urology and pediatrics, where male children surpass females by a small percentage. Despite these statistics, KP continues to provide medical care in a mostly traditional manner. The Women's Health Center of Excellence has four primary goals: To assemble and analyze background data used for implementing program interventions and to expand culturally competent care and services for women; To compile key learnings and tools; To share our experiences and expertise with others internal and external to KP; and To develop best practices and approaches for women's health care. The center offers learnings derived from women's health and multilingual communication programs and services initiated by such programs and services as the Multilingual Women's Health Program, the Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative, and the Latina Breast Cancer Project. These programs and services continue to evolve along with the rapid growth of our diverse communities and member population segments. The center's current focus includes a Women's Health Educational Series, the Breastfeeding and Cultural Norms Research Project, and domestic violence. Key learnings as well as identified gaps and opportunities will enrich these programs and services to more effectively meet the health care needs of all women.