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Culturally Competent Services

Professional Resource Brief

Web Sites


Agency for Health Care Research and Quality (AHRQ): Cultural and Linguistic Competence
Fact sheets, assessment tools, and resources related to cultural and linguistic competence for patients, consumers, clinicians, health care systems, and policy makers.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Office of Minority Health and Health Equity
Agency initiatives, reports and publications, resource organizations, training opportunities, a health equities blog and e-Newsletter, and resources on specific racial and ethnic minority populations.

Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Minority Health: Cultural Competency
Guides and resources; links to organizations and programs; policies, initiatives, and laws; training tools for physicians and others; and National Standards for Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services (CLAS) in Health Care

Ethnomed
Cross cultural health information and information by topic and by culture. Some materials are translated into numerous languages.

Health Resources and Services Administration: Culture, Language, and Health Literacy
Assessment tools, training curricula, and other resources focusing on race and ethnicity, age, gender, and special populations (migrant workers, the homeless, people with disabilities, and lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) populations).  Includes resources on research and education for health professionals.

Medline Plus: Population Groups
Health information from the National Library of Medicine for racial, ethnic, and other population groups.

National Center for Cultural Competence
Foundations for cultural and linguistic competence, projects and initiatives, online curricula, self assessments, promising practices, a consultant pool, and resources by audience. Some materials are in Spanish.

Related MCH Digital Library Resources

For more information on this topic, use the MCH Digital Library Advanced Search.
(Related Keywords: Cultural Diversity, Cultural Sensitivity, Linguistic Competence, Cultural Competence, Minority Health, Underserved Communities, and Language Barriers)


Culturally Competent Services Professional Resource Brief. (December 2013. Updated: July 2021).

Authors: Beth DeFrancis Sun, M.L.S.; Olivia K. Pickett, M.A., M.L.S., MCH Digital Library

The MCH Digital Library is one of six special collections at Geogetown University, the nation's oldest Jesuit institution of higher education. It is supported in part by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) under award number U02MC31613, MCH Advanced Education Policy with an award of $700,000/year. The library is also supported through foundation and univerity funding. This information or content and conclusions are those of the author and should not be construed as the official position or policy of, nor should any endorsements be inferred by HRSA, HHS or the U.S. Government.