Culture, Diversity and Communication in Health Care Settings.

Catalog description

Semester course; 3 lecture hours. 3 credits. This course challenges individuals to recognize how and to what extent diversity affects the interactions that occur within the health care system and to explore communication skills through a more holistic and inclusive framework. Effective communication across diverse groups of people is a necessary skill in today’s society, but it is especially important in health care interactions. Most individuals will interact with the health care system in the U.S. at several points in their lives as patients and, for some, in a practitioner or policy-maker role. Interactions with the health care system are often brief, fragmented and sometimes involve multiple people for the care of one patient. It is critical to develop one’s awareness for how identity, culture and group membership influence health behaviors and decisions to appropriately advocate for oneself and others.