Cultural responsiveness in a paediatric hospital setting: People, processes, and practice environment

Abstract

To be ethical, safe, and of high quality, speech-language pathology services must be responsive to the needs of culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) consumers. However, cultural responsiveness is an ongoing challenge in Australian health care. A service evaluation conducted within the speech pathology department of a major Australian paediatric hospital explored the practices, challenges, and needs of speechlanguage pathologists (SLPs) and allied health assistants when working with CALD consumers. Twenty-nine clinicians across a range of communication and feeding caseloads were interviewed. Issues were identified in three key areas: people, processes, and the practice environment. Clinicians suggested improvements to service delivery spanned the levels of the individual, the profession, the organisation, and the overall health care system. The implications of these findings for SLPs and the broader health care workforce are discussed, and a framework for improving cultural responsiveness is proposed. Future directions for research in this area are also detailed.research; tables/charts. Journal Subset: Allied Health; Australia & New Zealand. NLM UID: 101587359. <br />