The demographics of America are rapidly changing, therefore health care providers are more likely to encounter situations outside the framework of their training and experience. They are often ill equipped to address the spectrum of health care needs within the communities they service. Health care planning, development, and delivery often occur in a cultural vacuum. Appropriate information, resources, and education regarding health belief systems, health models, traditional systems, and other health delivery systems are often absent. Thus, it is imperative that the health care provider be equipped with the necessary knowledge, skills, and tools to build new health care paradigms.
Culture needs to become woven into the rich fabric of health care.
The Multicultural Curriculum Program at Children's Hospital Oakland is a program designed to create a paradigm of health care delivery to the changing focus of our communities. It combines knowledge, reflection, and experience in a dynamic community institutions partnership that has a multifaceted, multidimensional interface for health care. Dr. Barbara Staggers is Director of Adolescent Medicine and Multicultural Affairs at Children's Hospital Oakland and a member of the National Committee on Adolescence for the American Academy of Pediatrics. She attained her BA in psychology from UC Berkeley, her MD from UC San Francisco, and an MPH in Health Education from UC Berkeley. She completed her Pediatric residency at Children's Hospital Oakland and her Fellowship in Adolescent Medicine at UC San Francisco.