PRESENTERS:  Srihimaja Nandamudi (faculty), Abby Dunster (Student), Kaitlyn Holloway (Student) and Allison Shattuck (Student)                    ZOOM LINK

Currently, in the United States, there has been a persistent lack of diversity among healthcare professionals to ensure that individuals of all of races, ethnicities, sexual orientations, religions, cultures, gender-identities, and socioeconomic backgrounds (Saizan et al., 2021). There has been substantial evidence that increasing diversity in the healthcare workforce improves healthcare delivery especially to the marginalized communities (ACP, 2010). The idea of cultural competence is consistently advancing and expanding to accommodate a more diverse society. The role of audiologists and speech-language pathologists in facilitating an atmosphere of growth through considering the social determinants of health also continues to develop. This serves as a reminder that developing humility would strengthen the connections between client and provider. Given that there are over 300 languages spoken in the US, and there are over 900,000 citizens who speak a language other than English in Michigan, it is pertinent to foster an environment where linguistic diversity is recognized (US Census Bureau, 2021). To provide adequate care, a culturally competent professional recognizes that the unique influence of an individual’s cultural and linguistic background may change over time and adjusts their clinical approaches accordingly.
 Although extensive training and cultural awareness is presented in the many healthcare fields, when looking at the demographics, about 64% of physicians are identified as male and 56% are white (AAMC, 2019). About 5% of physicians identify as black or African American, despite making up 13.6% of the U.S. population and fewer than 6% of physicians identify as Hispanics despite making up to 19% of the U.S. population. Similarly, current American Speech-Language and Hearing Association (ASHA) certified speech-language pathologists and audiologists, majority of the clinicians (79%) identify as white. In annual demographic composition of ASHA (2021), only 3% represented black or African American, 5.4% represented Hispanic or Latino, 2.6% Asian, and 0.3% Native American community, indicating a significant underrepresentation in these fields. Despite this, it is the responsibility of every clinician to learn from their client/patient while simultaneously enhancing their communication skills without bias. The presentation aims to discuss and portray situations in which cultural competence and identity awareness are necessary to improve the quality of patient care. (Panel)