It's All About Trust and Respect: Cultural Competence and Cultural Humility in Mobile Health Clinic Services for Underserved Minority Populations

OBJECTIVES: To explore participants' perceptions of cultural competence and cultural humility in mobile health clinic (MHC) service delivery, using the Cultural Competence Model (CCM) as an organizing framework. METHODS: We conducted five focus groups with an ethnically diverse group of English-and Spanish-speaking men and women, ages 20-67, residing in five underserved neighborhoods in a Southeastern U.S. city. Data analysis followed a thematic approach and iterative qualitative content analysis. RESULTS: Participants expressed a desire for well-trained and caring staff who practice cultural humility. CONCLUSIONS: By applying the CCM's five-pronged constellation of cultural abilities, health care personnel could ultimately be more responsive to ethnically diverse clients. There is a need to reinforce compliance with Culturally Linguistic and Appropriate Service (CLAS) standards and to develop programs to increase providers' cultural awareness, knowledge, and skills that ultimately could reduce non-emergent emergency room visits and their associated costs.