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178 Cultural Competence in Health Education and Health Promotion

cultural competence as a process rather than an arrival point, then success can be defi ned
in terms of significant steps in the processes of lifelong self - analysis, competency train-

ing, and cross - cultural interaction. Professional development programs can be designed
to equip students with needed knowledge and skills along with high motivation to
explore personal perspectives and multiple worldviews, understand and embrace cul-
turally competent health promotion strategies, and engage in self - directed competency
development. With appropriate levels of commitment, hard work, and patience
invested in these efforts, students and the professionals who teach them will benefi t
from experiencing a lifelong process of becoming culturally competent.

POINTS TO REMEMBER

■ Cultural competence is not an arrival point but a process of lifelong effort to con-
tinually engage in self - analysis, competency training, cross - cultural interaction,
and appreciation for multiple worldviews.
■ The learning objectives of a professional development program should include
awareness - and knowledge - based objectives and skills - based objectives that moti-
vate students to explore personal perspectives and multiple worldviews, under-
stand and embrace culturally competent health promotion strategies, and engage
in self - directed competency development.

■ A well - designed degree program should include four basic components that pro-
mote cultural competence: an integrated approach to course structures and sequences,
application of theories and models within a cultural context, experiential learning
opportunities, and professors who are capable of modeling and mentoring a lifelong
process of becoming culturally competent.

CASE STUDY
The bachelor ’ s degree program in community health education (CHE) at Baylor Uni-
versity ( www.baylor.edu ) illustrates how degree program designers can deliberately
infuse cultural competence into the curriculum. Leaders of this relatively new Baylor
degree program have recently worked to deliberately infuse a cultural competence
framework into course content and projects. In core courses the students learn about
health education philosophy and theory, methodological paradigms, and professional
ethics from the framework of the PEN - 3 and other culture - based models. The reciprocal
relationships between cultural competence, community empowerment, and quality of
life are presented as critical elements when forging community partnerships to promote
health. Back translation and other techniques that foster health literacy within a cultural
context are presented as important skill components. The students also learn the princi-
ples of community - based participatory research (Minkler & Wallerstein, 2003) and how

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