Connecting to Care: Cultural Navigator Training

Connecting to Care is designed for individuals who want to enhance their daily work with patients or community members and the health care team. This 24-hour course introduces you to foundational knowledge and skills to support the patient or community member as they navigate the health care system, as well as connecting patient/community member to  local community resources that can help them achieve optimal health. Individuals who would benefit from this course include medical interpreters, community health workers, patient navigators, and cultural navigators, among others. This is an interactive course that includes group discussions, opportunities for reflection, case studies, and role plays.

Upon successful completion of the course, participants receive a certificate of completion.

During the training, you will learn about the key roles and competencies of a health care cultural navigator, and about the history of patient navigation. You will also gain an in-depth understanding about the barriers to equitable care that members of marginalized or vulnerable populations face, and how those barriers can be overcome through culturally competent support, patient/community member education, effective communication, teamwork, and patient-centered care. You will learn how to help educate patients about accessing health care delivery systems and hospital support services – always working together with the patient’s treatment team. You will also gain insight into the role of cultural navigators as part of a public health team working with community members.

The curriculum includes:

• Key Roles and Competencies of a Cultural Navigator
• Professional Ethics
• The Culture of Western Medicine and Health Care System Models around the World
• Health Equity/Health Disparities and Barriers to Equitable Care
• The Social Determinants of Health
• Cultural Competency and Cultural Humility
• Structural Competency
• Culturally Competent Language Services
• Communication Skills
• System Education and Coaching: skills and information to teach patients about the health care system and promote the patient’s autonomy.
• Effective Advocacy
• Patient-Centered Care
• Professional Development and Self-Care