Addressing Health Disparities through Cultural and Linguistic Competency Trainings.

Abstract

Cultural and Linguistic Competence (CALC) involves the idea that to eliminate long standing disparities in our society, providers need to be able to work effectively cross- culturally. This study describes the evaluation of a 3.5 hour CALC training with the objective of improving human service providers' knowledge, attitudes, and comfort in serving diverse groups. Pre- and post-training questionnaires were completed by 317 participants at 21 trainings in a state in which over 90% of the population is white. Participants' knowledge, attitudes and comfort in CALC significantly improved. However, gains in comfort using CALC strategies were smaller than anticipated. Implications for improving CALC trainings and future research are discussed.