An analysis of the cultural competence for military health care professionals

As the demographics of the U.S. population continue to become progressively diverse and the continual commitment of the U.S. Government in responding to disasters worldwide offer compelling reasons for learning more about culturally competent care. The purpose of this comparative quasi-experimental study was to measure and compare the extent to which military health care professionals exhibit cultural competence. The quantitative analysis was measured using the Inventory for Assessing the Process of Cultural Competence Among Health Care Professionals-Revised (IAPCC-R) survey questionnaire by Campinha-Bacote (2007b). The target population was N=225 military and civilian members attending leadership courses at Navy Medicine Professional Development Center (NMPDC) located in Bethesda, Maryland.;The results revealed that participants in cultural competency training on average score higher than non-participants F (1,206) = 194.64, p= < .001 showing that 56.2% (N=121) of military health care professionals that participated in this study are operating at a culturally competent level. Furthermore, 40.9% (N=88) of participants are operating at a cultural aware level. It also indicated that 69.3% (N=149) of participants were within the construct category of cultural desire indicating the need for more cultural training opportunities. Therefore, it suggests that health care organizations need to anticipate which cultural communities they are likely to serve and then develop the competence to serve them appropriately. This in turns helps health care professionals to improve their culturally competent skills with the goal of becoming a better and more effective clinician.;These findings were consistent with the findings from other studies conducted in civilian health care organizations. The study additionally revealed that the covariates of age and provider type had a significant relationship for military cultural competency scores in contrast to civilian's where the covariate of ethnicity had significant relationship. Indicating that military health care professionals are exposed to a more diverse patient population however, the influx of new health care professionals requires organization leadership to be proactive in providing cultural competency training.