New Cultural Competency Curriculum for Oral Health Professionals

As a part of National Minority Health Month’s Workforce Week, the HHS Office of Minority Health is launching an e-learning program entitled, Cultural Competency Program for Oral Health Professionals. This free program, offered exclusively online, is designed to help oral health professionals build knowledge and skills related to cultural and linguistic competency.

The program targets Dentists, Dental Assistants, Dental Hygienists, Dental Specialists, and any other professional in the unique position to help improve access to quality oral health care, and to help improve oral health outcomes of all patients. The Cultural Competency Program for Oral Health Professionals is a 3-course, ADA CERP Recognized e-learning program that will offer eligible oral health professionals the opportunity to gain up to 6 continuing education credits at no cost to them.

The Cultural Competency Program for Oral Health Professionals will equip participants with the awareness and skills necessary to provide culturally and linguistically appropriate services to all patients. The HHS Office of Minority Health has strived to produce a creative and practical program, based on expert and target user feedback, which will help oral health professionals deliver a higher quality of care for all of their patients.

In addition, the e-learning program is designed to equip oral health professionals with the basic cultural and linguistic competency knowledge and skills so that they can:

• Expand their patient base by providing more culturally and linguistically appropriate and responsive oral health care to a wider diversity of patients;
• Decrease clinical errors that may arise due to cultural and linguistic differences in communication and oral health literacy; and
• Gain essential tools to help recognize and lessen the racial and ethnic health care disparities that persist in oral health.

For more information or to access the program, please visit: oralhealth.thinkculturalhealth.hhs.gov.

For more information on delivering culturally and linguistically appropriate services in other health professions visit: www.ThinkCulturalHealth.hhs.gov.

J. Nadine Gracia, MD, MSCE, is the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Minority Health and the Director of the Office of Minority Health at the US Department of Health and Human Services. The Office of Minority Health is dedicated to improving the health of racial and ethnic minority populations through the development of health policies and programs that will help eliminate health disparities.