Achieving cultural competence: The challenges for health educators

The racial and ethnic diversification of the U.S. population presents a clear call for health educators to surmount the barriers they have encountered in reaching U.S. racial and ethnic groups with culturally appropriate health promotion and prevention messages. As the population becomes more culturally and ethnically diverse, the preparation of culturally competent health educators and the development of culturally appropriate health education and promotion programs become crucial. Health educators must strive to achieve cultural competency by understanding the meaning of culture and its complexity within each group; increasing cultural awareness, knowledge, skills, and desire; and applying the National Standards for Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services until they develop discipline-specific standards. This article discusses some of the issues surrounding cultural competence and provides some strategies by which health educators can become culturally competent.