Dataset Information

Culturally competent library services and related factors among health sciences librarians: an exploratory study.

ABSTRACT:

Objective

This study investigated the current state of health sciences libraries' provision of culturally competent services to support health professions education and patient care and examined factors associated with cultural competency in relation to library services and professional development.

Methods

This was a cross-sectional study. Data were collected with a survey questionnaire that was distributed via SurveyMonkey to several health sciences librarian email discussion lists.

Results

Out of 176 respondents, 163 reported serving clients from diverse cultural backgrounds. Various services were provided to develop or support initiatives in cultural competency in health professions education and patient care. A considerable number of respondents were unsure or reported no library services to support initiatives in cultural competency, although a majority of respondents perceived the importance of providing culturally competent library services (156, 89.1%) and cultural competency for health sciences librarians (162, 93.1%). Those who self-identified as nonwhites perceived culturally competent services to be more important than whites (p=0.04). Those who spoke another language in addition to English had higher self-rated cultural competency (p=0.01) than those who only spoke English.

Conclusions

These findings contribute to our knowledge of the types of library services provided to support cultural competency initiatives and of health sciences librarians' perceived importance in providing culturally competent library services and cultural competency for health sciences librarians. The results suggest implications for health sciences libraries in fostering professional development in cultural competency and in providing culturally competent services to increase library use by people from a wide range of cultures and backgrounds.

SUBMITTER: Mi M

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5370603 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Publications

Culturally competent library services and related factors among health sciences librarians: an exploratory study.

Mi Misa M Zhang Yingting Y

Journal of the Medical Library Association : JMLA 20170401 2

<h4>Objective</h4>This study investigated the current state of health sciences libraries' provision of culturally competent services to support health professions education and patient care and examined factors associated with cultural competency in relation to library services and professional development.<h4>Methods</h4>This was a cross-sectional study. Data were collected with a survey questionnaire that was distributed via SurveyMonkey to several health sciences librarian email discussion li ...[more]

PMID: 28377675

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Project description:Cultural competency has been proposed as an organizational strategy to address racial/ethnic disparities in the healthcare system; disparities are a long-standing policy challenge whose relevance is only increasing with the increasing population diversity of the US and across the world. Using an integrative conceptual framework based on the resource dependency and institutional theories, we examine the relationship between organizational and market factors and hospitals' degree of cultural competency. Our sample consists of 119 hospitals located in the state of California (US) and is constructed using the following datasets for the year 2006: Cultural Competency Assessment Tool of Hospitals (CCATH) Survey, California's Office of Statewide Health Planning & Development's Hospital Inpatient Discharges and Annual Hospital Financial Data, American Hospital Association's Annual Survey, and the Area Resource File. The dependent variable consists of the degree of hospital cultural competency, as assessed by the CCATH overall score. Organizational variables include ownership status, teaching hospital, payer mix, size, system membership, financial performance, and the proportion of inpatient racial/ethnic minorities. Market characteristics included hospital competition, the proportion of racial/ethnic minorities in the area, metropolitan area, and per capita income. Regression analyses were conducted to assess the relationship between the CCATH overall score and organizational and market variables. Our results show that hospitals which are not-for-profit, serve a more diverse inpatient population, and are located in more competitive and affluent markets exhibit a higher degree of cultural competency. Our results underscore the importance of both institutional and competitive market pressures in guiding hospital behavior. For instance, while not-for-profit may adopt innovative/progressive policies like cultural competency simply as a function of their organizational goals, linking cultural competency with organizational performance may be essential to attract more profit driven hospitals.

Dataset Information

Culturally competent library services and related factors among health sciences librarians: an exploratory study.

Objective

Methods

Results

Conclusions

Publications

Culturally competent library services and related factors among health sciences librarians: an exploratory study.

Similar Datasets

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