Does cultural competence training for health professionals impact culturally and linguistically diverse patient outcomes? A systematic review of the literature

Objective: To assess the impact of cultural competence training for health professionals on patient outcomes. Method: A systematic review of cultural competence training interventions for healthcare workers including papers published January 2010 to January 2021, identified through MEDLINE, CINAHL, ERIC and APA Psy-chINFO. Health conditions were not specified, however, only studies reporting patient outcomes were included. Training frameworks and delivery, measures of health professional cultural competence, and patient outcomes were reviewed.Results: Of 7879 unique studies identified, five met inclusion criteria including two randomised control trials, two mixed method and one multi-method pre/post study. Professionals reported the training was beneficial, and some improvements in patient perceptions of health providers' cultural competence were found. However, pa-tient health outcomes did not improve significantly in any study.Conclusion: Cultural competence training is promoted to improve outcomes of patients from culturally diverse backgrounds; however, few studies assess outcomes when examining training impact. Inconsistencies in theo-retical frameworks and training makes it difficult to assess the efficacy of training on patient outcomes. Results: Of 7879 unique studies identified, five met inclusion criteria including two randomised control trials, two mixed method and one multi-method pre/post study. Professionals reported the training was beneficial, and some improvements in patient perceptions of health providers' cultural competence were found. However, pa-tient health outcomes did not improve significantly in any study.Conclusion: Cultural competence training is promoted to improve outcomes of patients from culturally diverse backgrounds; however, few studies assess outcomes when examining training impact. Inconsistencies in theo-retical frameworks and training makes it difficult to assess the efficacy of training on patient outcomes.Practice implications: To ascertain the benefits of health professional cultural competence training on patient outcomes, research needs to address the issues of definition, theoretical frameworks and implementation ap-proaches to training.