This set of materials was produced by a nation-wide team of healthcare professionals who, like you, are dedicated to providing high quality, effective, and compassionate care to their patients. Because of changes in demography, in our awareness of differences in individual belief and behavior, and new legal mandates, we are constantly presented with new challenges in our attempts to deliver health care to a diverse patient population. The material in this tool kit will provide you with resources to address the very specific operational needs that often arise in a busy practice because of the changing service requirements and legal mandates.

The tool kit contents are organized into four sections, each containing helpful background information and tools that can be reproduced and used as needed. Below you will find a list of the section topics and a small sample of their contents.

Interaction with a diverse patient base: encounter tips for providers and their clinical staff, a mnemonic to assist with patient interviews, help in identifying literacy problems, and an interview guide for hiring clinical staff who have an awareness of diversity issues.

Communication across language barriers: tips for locating and working with interpreters, common signs and common sentences in many languages, language identification flashcards, and language skill self-assessment tools.

Understanding patients from various cultural backgrounds: tips for talking about sex with a wide range of people, pain management across cultures, and information about different cultural backgrounds.

References and resources: some key legal requirements, a summary of the “Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Service (CLAS) Standards,” which serve as a guide on how to meet legal requirements, a bibliography of print resources, and a list of internet resources.

We consider this tool kit a work in progress. Patient needs and the tools we use to work with those changing needs will continue to evolve. We understand that some portions of this tool kit will be more useful than others for individual practices or service settings, after all, practices vary as much as the places where they are located. We encourage you to use what is helpful, disregard what is not, and, if possible communicate your reaction to the contents to the ICE Cultural and Linguistics Workgroup at: CL_Team@iceforhealth.org