Cultural competence training has been widely endorsed and adopted as a means to reduce racial disparities in health care delivery, but there has been little evidence to inform what effective training should look like. The purpose of this project is to generate evidence that will shape effective interventions to improve providers' and healthcare teams' ability to work effectively with minority patients, develop strong relationships, and deliver patient-centered care. The study follows from prior work demonstrating that providers' self-assessed cultural competence is associated with better patient-provider interactions and relationships, as perceived by minority veterans. The next step is to understand what providers with higher levels of cultural competence are doing differently to achieve better interactions and relationships. Understanding how cultural competence manifests in patient care interactions will help determine the skills and behaviors that should be targeted in training health professionals in a way that will improve their ability to deliver equitable patient care.
