What It Means to Be an Inclusive Provider

But what exactly does it mean to be an inclusive provider? Let’s take a closer look at the skills, values, and competencies these individuals hold.

Cultural Humility, Affirmation, and Competency

Healthcare practitioners are responsible for understanding and respecting the cultural and social norms of the different patients they encounter. Marginalized patients can be part of any number of groups based on common factors, including:

• Religion
• Culture
• Nationality
• Sex
• Gender identity
• Sexual orientation
• Disability
• Socioeconomic status
• Language spoken

Cultural competence is a training standard in many healthcare systems, facilities, and practices. But is cultural “competence” – indicative of mastery – an appropriate goal? 

As a healthcare professional, what would be the better goal to strive for? We believe the answer is cultural humility, an interpersonal approach that builds the scaffolding for patient-centered care. 

Of the many cultures, groups, and societal norms in the world, no one can truly understand them all. To practice cultural humility with every patient, it is a provider’s duty to remain open, reflect, and learn. 

A healthcare provider’s ability to provide empathetic, knowledgeable care to all patients relies on a continuous journey in which they learn about and from different cultures and groups. During this ongoing process, self-reflection and evaluation are invaluable tools. They illuminate how an individual’s personal beliefs, values, and biases impact their patients. 

Another component of providing inclusive care is cultural affirmation. Practitioners should consistently strive to respectfully validate an individual’s identity and beliefs during encounters. Understanding patients as people, not just medical puzzles to be solved, is paramount to creating a culturally inclusive practice framework. 

Patient-Centered Care

Patients from stigmatized populations are often wary of the healthcare system and providers. Individualized, affirming care will create trusting relationships between practitioners and their patients. Each patient has unique needs and preferences that should be considered with care. They are to be treated as an individual, not just as a member of a group. 

Practitioners can build rapport with active listening, genuine interest, authenticity, and culturally aware strategies. Individuals who trust their providers are more likely to be honest about crucial details that can impact their health. 

As a result, open patients have better outcomes because they are more likely to follow advice, keep appointments, and maintain their treatment courses.

Policy and Advocacy

The healthcare industry can be slow to adopt change. Individual practitioners can start by supporting inclusivity and advocating for changes within their facilities. Small ripples lead to big waves, ultimately affecting change across the healthcare continuum. 

Evolution within the industry can begin with just a few practitioners advocating for the rights of their patients. By pushing for appropriate policy and administrative changes, healthcare providers can vastly improve the medical care and experience of marginalized groups.

Education and Training

Practitioners must be aware of all components that shape their patients’ interactions with the healthcare system. 

Cultural competence is more complex than understanding how the unique characteristics of different groups may impact an individual’s health and decision-making. Technical components drive clinical judgment, further impacting a provider’s choices for appropriate medical care based on underlying factors. 

For example, patients who are transgender require specialized medical care. The discussion, initiation, and maintenance of hormone therapy requires extensive knowledge of the process as a medical treatment, not just how to affirm a patient’s identity as an individual who is transgender. Providers must also know appropriate cancer screenings based on organs and anatomy while approaching the subject with genuine compassion and care.

Simulations with standardized patients (SP) can incorporate DEI principles into training, preparing practitioners for working with patients of all backgrounds. Whether you’re looking for simulation scenarios for nurses, doctors, or PAs, Simlcusive provides ample opportunities for one-on-one practice and feedback. 

By working with Simclusive’s standardized patients with varied lived experiences, practitioners are more prepared than ever for conversations with their patients. This is especially true for sensitive topics that are potentially challenging, stressful, or simply new to them. We support the ongoing commitment to cultural humility and affirming care with our diverse scenario library.