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Culturally Competent Long Term Care

This project ran from May 1, 2002 thru November 15, 2002 and was funded by the Commonwealth Fund.

Two demographic imperatives drove this project. First, from 1994 to 2050, there was a predicted 100 percent rise in the number of elderly who were a race other than white (U.S. Census Bureau, 1995). In New York state, the number of black, non-Hispanic elderly would purportedly increase by 60 percent from 1995 to 2015; the number of Hispanic elderly would increase by 203 percent; the number of Asian/Pacific elderly would increase by 306 percent; and the number of the Native American elderly would increase by 98 percent (Sutton, 1999). Increasing staff diversity in culture and language was also of interest, with continuing care providers increasingly recruiting immigrants as nurses and CNAs (Heim and Tucker, 2000). The goals of 'Culturally Competent Long Term Care' were:

• To create long-term care environments that were able to respond fully to the challenges and opportunities of caring for frail elders and their families who were racially, culturally and ethnically diverse.
  
• Determine how culturally diverse nursing home staff and family members of residents perceive culture and how this influences the delivery and quality of services.
  

The data was collected through national surveys and focus groups of culturally diverse residents, families and nursing home staff.

Major findings from this study indicate that:

• Further work in cultural competence in LTC is needed, but little has been done to prepare providers to meet this need.
  
• There are compelling ethical, policy and regulatory dilemmas that seem to be unique to the challenges of achieving cultural competency in LTC settings