Being mindful of cultural and linguistic diversity in everyday practice

A culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) patient is one who comes from a home environment where a language other than English is spoken and whose cultural values differ from mainstream culture. According to the Center of Immigration Studies, about one in five U.S. residents speak a language other than English at home (Camarota and Zeigler, 2015). 

This article provides information about factors related to cultural and linguistic diversity as they relate to best hearing health-care practices. Cultural and linguistic competence suggests an ability by health-care providers and health-care organizations to understand and respond effectively to the cultural and linguistic needs brought by patients to the health-care encounter (HHS, 2000). Readers will benefit from the examples, resources, and recommendations for removing communication barriers when interacting with CLD patients.

A changing and increasingly diverse population in the United States has created challenges for providers to deliver culturally competent services while maintaining a high quality of care and improving hearing-health outcomes. Communication barriers, including language, can impact patient satisfaction, understanding, and quality of care. 

To provide culturally competent and high-quality services, clinicians must strive to effectively communicate with all patients, including the CLD population and those vulnerable to low-health literacy. Increasing cultural competence and adhering to best-practice guidelines will decrease communication barriers and increase patient satisfaction. In turn, this improves the effectiveness of audiologists’ services and achieves a positive patient–provider relationship. As clinicians, we need to strive to remove language and cultural barriers to provide excellence in hearing health care for all.