Cultural Competence in Healthcare Leadership Education and Development

Steve Gulati and Catherine Weir
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Steve Gulati: Health Services Management Centre, College of Social Sciences, University of Birmingham, Birmingham B15 2RT, UK
Catherine Weir: Health Services Management Centre, College of Social Sciences, University of Birmingham, Birmingham B15 2RT, UK

Societies, 2022, vol. 12, issue 2, 1-13

Abstract: Cultural competence is a phenomenon that straddles many disciplines and fields of study. There is no settled definition of the term, and it is argued that this is not necessary to explore or discuss the phenomenon as it is context-dependent across diverse societies. Explorations of cultural competence in clinical education and training are well-established, but there has been less attention towards its expression in the field of developing healthcare leaders. There is a debate about whether cultural competence is best achieved primarily through training-based educational inputs or by being infused in all areas of curriculum development. Using an exploration of selected literature followed by the case of an ambitious set of leadership development programmes in the English National Health Service, this paper explores the balance and interdependencies of cultural competence in healthcare leadership development as knowledge, skills and attitudes. The paper concludes that it is important for educators in this field to provide space for reflection, develop skills of reflexivity and facilitate sensitive discussions of sometimes contested ideas and concepts. A further evaluation of the impact of teaching and learning interventions, while mapping developments in perceptions of knowledge, skill and attitudes would be an area ripe for future research.

Keywords: leadership; healthcare leadership; cultural competence; leadership development; healthcare education; curriculum; equality; diversity and inclusion; NHS (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: A13 A14 P P0 P1 P2 P3 P4 P5 Z1 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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