A CME Modeule Featuring Carol Mostow and Colleagues is Now Available on the Society of General Internal Medicine Website
A CME module featuring Carol Mostow and colleagues is now available on the Society of General Internal Medicine website. The module is excerpted from an interactive workshop presenting the RESPECT model at a national AAMC conference and SGIM Forum on Health Disparities Education. The RESPECT Model: Precepting for Cross-racial/cultural Care is based on work that appears in the May 2010 JGIM Special Supplement and was excerpted from the 2009 interactive workshop presented at the conference. The module is also available to be viewed at no charge if the viewer registers.
Carol Mostow LICSW was also interviewed and extensively quoted in the September/ October 2010 issue of Physician Executive Journal on “Cultural Competence: Why and How?” pp 18-22 by Dianne Shannon, MD excerpted below.
Given the strong rationale for fostering cultural competency in health care organizations, what can a physician leader do to promote this capacity in his or her organization? According to Mostow, the first step is effective communication of respect and empathy for others’ perspectives. Inspired by the needs of a demoralized and frustrated intern, Mostow, along with a racially and culturally diverse group of providers at Boston Medical Center, created a framework for more effective cross-cultural communication with patients. The model uses the mnemonic RESPECT to remind providers of specific behaviors they can use during interactions with patients.
Mostow suggests that leaders extend the empathy component of the RESPECT model to providers as well. “We need to remember that all practitioners entered their field to do the best they could for patients. We need to empathize with practitioners to support their efforts to face challenges and improve outcomes; we need to support strengths, build on skills, and make it safe to try new approaches and improve care for all patients.” To support these priorities, Mostow recommends that leaders review and adapt their organization’s systems, including electronic medical records, the configuration of office staff and clinical teams, provision of ancillary services, and staff rewards or incentives, further protecting and promoting relationship- and patient-centered care.
Mostow recommends that health care leaders recruit, hire, and strive to retain a culturally and ethnically diverse workforce. According to Mostow, leaders should elicit and value the input of these staff members. “Leaders should promote practitioners from all backgrounds who excel at connecting effectively with the patients they serve and help these practitioners share best practices and mentor others.” By bringing varied perspectives into the organization, a diverse workforce helps the organization become more responsive to the needs of a diverse patient population. Diversity of the workforce also may signal to the community that the organization embraces cultural and ethnic diversity.