FYI

When it comes to providing care to your patients, you want them to feel heard, comfortable and confident in their outcomes. Your patients will feel more comfortable and confident in your care if you express an interest in their cultural heritage.

There are many different resources available to help you meet your patients’ needs, and now Delta Dental’s offerings are available in a single convenient location. You’ll find tools and resources on diversity and inclusion. By making the most of these reference materials and following these tips, your office will be on its way to mastering cultural competency.

Help your team understand what cultural competency means

Diversity, inclusion and cultural competency are more than just buzzwords. They’re principles your team can aspire to in order to better care for patients. You can share Delta Dental’s language and cultural resources with your whole team to help them better understand the importance of these principles, including:

• The cultural competency slide deck. This  short presentation helps you and staff understand what cultural competency is, why it matters in dentistry, the cultural factors that affect care and ways to communicate with patients more effectively.
• In-depth blog posts. Staying on top of the latest trends and best practices can feel like its own job, but these blog posts make it easy. Articles full of insights and analysis to help you build a more culturally competent dental practice are regularly featured on FYI.
• Outside resources. As the population of the United States becomes more diverse, more organizations and institutions are weighing in on how best to serve that population. Check out what the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the American Dental Association have to say about the importance of diversity and inclusion.

Have resources ready for the patients who come to you

If a patient comes to your practice that doesn’t speak the same language as any of your staff, there are resources available to help you provide them with the care they need. Delta Dental’s Language Assistance Program makes it possible for you to help patients even when you can’t directly communicate with them. Face-to-face interpretive services are available with 72 hours’ notice and phone assistance for Delta Dental members who need help understanding their coverage is available in over 170 languages.

Serving patients from diverse backgrounds doesn’t have to be a challenge. By making the most of the cultural competency tools and resources available to dental offices and their staff, you’ll be able to grow your patient base, help people who tend to go underserved and develop a reputation for ensuring that people of all backgrounds can get the care they need.