Page 189 - Cultural Competence in Health Education

Toward a Culturally Competent Health Education Workforce 167

The skills - based objectives can serve as the basis for skills training exercises that
occur in classroom settings and the cultural encounter opportunities offered through
internships and in community - based projects for courses and student organizations.

These objectives largely reflect the areas of responsibility for an entry - level health
educator (National Commission for Health Education Credentialing [NCHEC], Society
for Public Health Education [SOPHE], & American Association for Health Education
[AAHE], 2006) but also contain a strong culture - based emphasis throughout. Specifi c
curriculum design components that can be built upon these learning objectives are
described in the next section.

Developing a Strong Curriculum
The ideal curriculum for health education preparation programs is one that equips stu-
dents with the knowledge, sensitivity, and practical skills needed to deliver health edu-
cation in a culturally competent manner. Though a variety of curricular designs can
help programs achieve this goal, a well - designed degree program should include four
basic components:

■ Course structures and sequences that promote an integrated approach to cultural
competence development

■ Opportunities to examine and apply theories and models within a cultural context
throughout the curriculum
■ Experiential learning opportunities (hands - on, real - world experiences) specifi -
cally designed to expose students to a variety of multicultural and cross - cultural
experiences
■ Professors who are capable of modeling and mentoring a lifelong process of
becoming culturally competent.

Course Structure and Integrated Degree Programs. In the previously mentioned

study of university - based programs, Luquis et al. (2006) identified common approaches

to cultural competence development. Though some form of cultural competence edu-

cation was evident in most programs, few contained a course specifically devoted to
cultural competence. Cultural competence was only sporadically integrated into courses
that focused on health education competencies, and levels of faculty preparation to
teach in - depth aspects of cultural competence were unclear. In light of these study
results, the researchers recommended that the health education profession develop

discipline - specific cultural competence standards that could be used by program accred-
itation bodies and developers of health education degree programs.
Most administrators of university health education degree programs value cultural
competence and desire to infuse it into their curriculum (Luquis et al., 2006). However,
both real and perceived barriers to such an infusion do exist. The need to create new
courses that focus directly on cultural competence must be met within the constraints

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