At BCBSRI, we believe that high quality care is equitable care, and we are committed to providing the best care to our members regardless of their race, gender identity, sexual orientation, and socioeconomic status. Delivering this high-level care starts with ensuring our providers have access to trainings on the topics of health equity, including cultural competence, bias, diversity, and inclusion. Providers can now access trainings and guides of this kind via the provider portal, under the Tools & Resources tab. Trainings are pulled directly from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Minority Health and other credible resources and will be reviewed by our team and updated annually. We recognize that education can play a key role in improving health equity, and when put to practice, will lead to improved health outcomes while enhancing the relationship between the provider and patient.
Examples of trainings and tools available on the Provider Portal:
How to Better Understand Different Social Identities
Combating Implicit Bias and Stereotypes
Developing Culturally Capable Materials
A Physician’s Practical Guide to Culturally Competent Care
Improving Cultural Competency for Behavioral Health Professionals
https://www.minorityhealth.hhs.gov/omh/browse.aspx?lvl=1&lvlid=6
https://thinkculturalhealth.hhs.gov/resources/library
https://thinkculturalhealth.hhs.gov/resources/videos
The below links will lead you to free trainings on the topics of health equity, including cultural competence, bias, diversity, and inclusion. Some links will take you to an external site.
Think Cultural Health Education
The below free e-learning programs from Think Cultural Health, a website sponsored by the Office of Minority Health, seeks to improve the quality of services provided to all individuals, which will ultimately help reduce health disparities and achieve health equity.
Improving Cultural Competency for Behavioral Health Professionals (Behavioral Health - Think Cultural Health (hhs.gov))
The Guide to Providing Effective Communication and Language Assistance Services (Communication Guide - Think Cultural Health (hhs.gov))
Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services (CLAS) in Maternal Health Care (Maternal Health Care - Think Cultural Health (hhs.gov))
Culturally Competent Nursing Care: A Cornerstone of Caring (Nurses - Think Cultural Health (hhs.gov))
Cultural Competency Program for Oral Health Providers (Oral Health Providers - Think Cultural Health (hhs.gov))
A Physician’s Practical Guide to Culturally Competent Care (Physicians - Think Cultural Health (hhs.gov))
More Trainings and Resources
National LGBTQIA+ Health Education Center – Achieving Health Equity for LGBTQIA People : Provides important LGTBQIA+ concepts and terminology, highlights the relationship between stigma and LGBTQIA+ health disparities and describes best practices in LGBTQIA+ health related to effective communication, data collection, and creating an inclusive environment.
National LGBTQIA+ Health Education Center – Addressing Unconscious and Implicit Bias : This training focuses particularly on provider bias and power dynamics and how bias shows up for transgender and gender-diverse clients.
American Medical Association – What Are Social Determinants of Health? : This module helps build a foundation for recognizing and addressing the structural drivers and social determinants of health during a clinical encounter in order to improve outcomes and health equity
[SG1]More suggested training links to be added here