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. 2008 Nov;100(11):1275-85.
doi: 10.1016/s0027-9684(15)31505-4.

Patient centeredness, cultural competence and healthcare quality

Somnath Saha  1 , Mary Catherine Beach, Lisa A Cooper
Affiliations

Patient centeredness, cultural competence and healthcare quality

Somnath Saha et al. J Natl Med Assoc. 2008 Nov.

Abstract

Cultural competence and patient centeredness are approaches to improving healthcare quality that have been promoted extensively in recent years. In this paper, we explore the historical evolution of both cultural competence and patient centeredness. In doing so, we demonstrate that early conceptual models of cultural competence and patient centeredness focused on how healthcare providers and patients might interact at the interpersonal level and that later conceptual models were expanded to consider how patients might be treated by the healthcare system as a whole. We then compare conceptual models for both cultural competence and patient centeredness at both the interpersonal and healthcare system levels to demonstrate similarities and differences. We conclude that, although the concepts have had different histories and foci, many of the core features of cultural competence and patient centeredness are the same. Each approach holds promise for improving the quality of healthcare for individual patients, communities and populations.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Key features of patient centeredness
Figure 2
Figure 2
Key features of cultural competence
Figure 3
Figure 3
Overlap between patient-centered care and cultural competence at the interpersonal level
Figure 4
Figure 4
Overlap between patient-centered care and cultural competence at the health system level
Figure 5
Figure 5
Patient centeredness, cultural competence and healthcare quality
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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