Culturally competent and sensitive care: study on perceptions, needs and barriers of healthcare professionals and informal carers to improve quality of care for patients with a migration background

Western regions encounter large numbers of different nationalities, which translates into an
increasing number of patients from diverse ethnic, religious and linguistic background. Scientific
research highlights that patients from minority groups receive lower quality of care, and inequities
and disparities towards these groups can be found in healthcare.
Culturally competent and sensitive care is often cited as a solution to meet these inequities and to
provide appropriate care, regardless of the patients background.
However, in the field of cultural competent care, 3 research gaps can be detected, which translate
into the following research questions. It remains unclear:
1) how healthcare professionals define, perceive and (try to) deliver culturally competent and
sensitive care for patients with a migration background;
2) how informal carers of patients with a migration background perceive the cultural competency and
sensitiveness of the care they receive;
3) how we can train future healthcare professionals in becoming more culturally competent and
sensitive.
The goal of the current project is to gain more knowledge about the perspective of the healthcare
professional and the informal carer by means of interviews and focus groups. Based on these insights
a training will be developed and tested. In doing so, my research project will thus generate
innovative knowledge and training development that enables a better understanding of culturally
competent and sensitive care.