Conference call. Diversity Matters: An Ongoing Conversation, sponsored by Providence Health Care, BC and Covenant Health, AB will be held November 2-3, 2009 at the Coast Plaza Hotel in Vancouver BC. From the conference brochure:
Conference Description
Healthcare practitioners, educators, and community service providers face increasingly diverse populations in their professional work. This diversity includes an expanding range of unfamiliar patient beliefs, preferences and expectations about the “right” way to learn, maintain health, make treatment decisions, and communicate. These changes are also often accompanied by significant language and other symbolic barriers between providers and the people served. New or different inter-professional competencies and organizational approaches are therefore needed to ensure the provision of safe and ethical care. Presenters at this conference share their knowledge and practical experiences in transforming models of health care to better serve our culturally diverse patient populations.
Conference Objectives
1. Raise awareness of the implicit values and premises of health care delivery
2. Provide knowledge about diverse health models, beliefs, and practices encountered with multicultural and multi-religious patient populations
3. Learn culturally competent approaches for engaging with religious and culturally diverse patients, families, and communities
4. Understand the communication issues and skills needed to provide education to diverse patient and provider populations
5. Identify systemic barriers and solutions for serving limited or non-English speaking patients, residents, families, and communities.
