Cultural Awareness, Competency, and Critical Consciousness in Healthcare - 2026 Renewal Requirement

Women, people of color, religious minorities, individuals with various physical and mental abilities, members of the LGBTQ communities, individuals with weight status challenges, socioeconomically depressed, elders, ethnic and racial minorities, among others, receive inferior health care. Furthermore, segments of the population receive lower quality healthcare than others, even when health insurance and ability to pay are the same. The Institute of Medicine reports that, in part, the reason patients receive inferior care is due to provider bias. Research has found that professionals demonstrate explicit and implicit bias and stereotyping when caring for patients, and that an awareness and conscious effort to address their behavior can make a difference in the patient's clinical outcome.