Cultural Competence And Health Care Disparities: Key Perspectives And Trends Among stakeholders in managed care, government, and academe, cultural competence is emerging as an important strategy to address health care disparities.

Cultural competence has gained attention as a potential strategy to improve quality and eliminate racial/ethnic disparities in health care. In 2002 we conducted inter- views with experts in cultural competence from managed care, government, and academe to identify their perspectives on the field. We present our findings here and then identify re- cent trends in cultural competence focusing on health care policy, practice, and education. Our analysis reveals that many health care stakeholders are developing initiatives in cul- tural competence. Yet the motivations for advancing cultural competence and approaches taken vary depending on mission, goals, and sphere of influence.