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174 Cultural Competence in Health Education and Health Promotion

learning but also for skills - based evaluation of the service learning experience. The
SOPHE/AAHE Baccalaureate Program Approval Committee (National Task Force on
the Preparation and Practice of Health Educators, 1985), the national approval body
for undergraduate health professional preparation programs, requires that health edu-
cation students complete 320 internship contact hours and that the skills described in
the areas of responsibility of an entry - level health educator serve as a framework for
performance evaluation. Because cultural competence skills are at least mentioned in
some of the responsibility areas, the evaluation of these competencies will likely
become a naturally emerging component of performance evaluation.
Culturally competent mentors can also signifi cantly influence student learning.

Luquis et al. (2006) reported that the majority of health education faculty members
were committed to, knowledgeable about, and comfortable with teaching cultural com-
petence. However, upon closer inspection of specific survey responses, only 38 percent

were “ very ” committed, 16 percent were “ very ” knowledgeable, and 25 percent were
“ very ” comfortable with the subject. Perhaps even more disconcerting was that only
15 percent of faculty members were very involved with diverse ethnic, racial, and cul-
tural groups outside of academia.
Effective leaders lead by example (Maxwell, 2001). If cultural competence is

defined as a learning process, health education professors can serve as effective role
models by exhibiting the same action - oriented characteristics previously described

in the profile of a competent student. An important principle for professors to under-
stand is that serving as a role model for cultural competence does not require perfec-
tion. Instead it requires a willingness to be transparent and genuine in sharing with
students one ’ s personal progress in this lifelong process. If students are to be
required to take risks and submit themselves to vulnerable situations through cul-
tural encounters and self - examination, their professors must be willing to do the
same. The basic tenets of cultural competence development in the workforce that are
addressed in the following section can be applied among faculty members of univer-
sity degree programs.

CULTURAL COMPETENCE AND THE WORK SETTING
The quest to develop a culturally competent health education workforce does not solely
rely on the abilities of university graduates who enter the job market. An additionally
important component lies in the competence of those who are currently in the work-

force and the organizations in which they work. The Office of Minority Health (OMH)
(2004) describes cultural competence as the “ capacity to function effectively as an
individual and an organization within the context of the cultural beliefs, behaviors, and
needs presented by consumers and their communities. ” Much of what has been dis-
cussed as needed for developing cultural competence among university students also
holds true for health educators in the current workforce. This section of the chapter

contains a profile of and recommendations for developing culturally competent orga-
nizations in which health educators can effectively work.

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