NC AHEC Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Modules for Primary Care Clinical and Non-clinical Staff

Healthcare providers are required to be competent not only in medicine but also in communication and caring for people with different disease burdens, socio-cultural realities, expectations, values, and beliefs. Be it the result of a language barrier, differences in philosophy, differences in cultural norms (and expectations), or even cultural bias, lack of diversity can lead to communication breakdown with patients. Consequently, when patients cannot fully communicate or express their needs, health inequities and health disparities occur.

Health equity means ensuring that every person in every community can get the same high-quality care regardless of individual characteristics, such as ethnicity, gender or geographic location. A number of social, economic and cultural factors significantly affect both physical and mental health. Healthcare providers require education to recognize and eliminate these disadvantages that lead to healthcare disparities through initiatives that increase diversity in leadership, improve training for cultural humility, and strengthen community partnerships.

The program will consist of 11 individual modules and will focus on implementing DEI strategies that are proven to improve patient care including:
• Articulating how DEI plays a heightened and essential role in today’s healthcare environment
• Educating clinical providers and non-clinical staff on fundamental concepts, such as cultural humility, structural racism, and other relevant content to assist providers and staff to increase knowledge and adopt equitable practices  
• Integrating DEI values and core principles into the patient care environment
• Building core competency and shared language across staff