Cultural Competency in Disaster Response: A Review of Current Concepts, Policies, and Practices

Office Of Minority Health- United States Department Of Health And Human Services

January 1, 2008

This Environmental Scan is an integral part of developing a cultural competency curriculum for disaster responders. The Scan was created to determine whether current information on the concepts, policies, and teaching practices regarding cultural competence provide an adequate base for developing the curriculum, and, if so, to summarize and synthesize this information into a usable form. We discuss the emergency support functions (ESF) outlined in the National Response Plan (NRP) and three main themes of the CLAS standards (culturally competent care, language access services, and organizational supports) as they apply to disaster response.

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