Teaching Tools, Strategies, and Resources, continued

Case 2, continued:
Addressing Challenges to Cultural and Linguistic Competence in Field
Placements and Practicum Settings

Areas of Guidance for Faculty

First it is important to determine what you and your colleagues can do at the individual level and what needs to occur at the department or institutional level in addressing this dilemma. The following are suggested strategies that can be part of the plan of action.

Individual faculty level

• Prepare students for experiences that they may encounter in a variety of settings:
  • Power differentials in the hierarchy of medicine or other health and mental health professions
  • Failure to provide interpretation and translation services
  • Stereotyping, bias, and discrimination
  • Racial and ethnic concordance or discordance between provider and patients/consumers
  • Differential treatment based on sexual orientation and identity
• Determine which experiences are unethical, discriminatory, of poor or questionable quality of care, and merit reporting to leadership in practicum settings. Ensure that faculty and students are informed and are fully aware of procedures to follow in the event that they encounter such experiences.• Create a structure to engage students both individually and in small groups to share their experiences. Offer guidance and encourage peer support.
• Include in curricula content on cross-cultural communication and how to address bias, stereotyping, discrimination and other “ISMs”.
• Encourage students to keep a log to document issues and concerns and not to rely solely on memory.
• Collaborate with students to publish the training program’s insights and lessons learned in addressing issues of bias, discrimination and other “ISMS” in health and mental care systems.

Departmental or Institutional level

• Create a structure for faculty to discuss issues across practicum settings.
• Execute interagency agreements or memoranda of understanding, between the University/Training Program and the practicum setting, that include clear procedures to address the previously described issues and problems.
• Determine thresholds for incidents and methods of communication of concerns to key contacts in practicum/placement settings.
• Develop clear guidelines for incident reporting, that are sanctioned by the University or Department, for students to follow.
• Conduct regular review processes on the appropriateness of placement settings.
• Discontinue collaboration if the liabilities outweigh the benefits.
• Establish a structure that involves community stakeholders to identify new and alternative placement settings.