Degree Name
Nursing Practice, DNP
Publication Date
8-8-2025
First Advisor
Sandy King
Second Advisor
Cherie Didier
Abstract
Culturally responsive care is critical in addressing mental health disparities, but many mental health providers express feeling unprepared to engage with culturally diverse patients. Low cultural competence is associated with communication failures, lack of patient trust, and the possibility of poorer treatment outcomes. This quality improvement project evaluated the impact of a structured cultural competency training program at an outpatient behavioral health clinic. A quasi-experimental, one-group pre-test/post-test design was used with the Inventory for Assessing the Process of Cultural Competence Among Healthcare Professionals - Revised (IAPCC-R). Eight licensed mental health providers participated in four weekly one-hour interactive training sessions using the Think Cultural Health curriculum, followed by a two-week post-training implementation period that allowed them to apply the newly acquired skills in clinical practice. The IAPCC-R questionnaire measured five domains: cultural awareness, knowledge, skill, encounter, and desire. Paired samples t-tests and a Wilcoxon signed-rank test revealed statistically significant improvements in total scores and across all domains (e.g., cultural awareness: p < .001, d = 3.57). These results confirm that targeted, evidence-based training can meaningfully enhance provider cultural competence. The project aligned with Campinha-Bacote's cultural competence model along with Lewin's Change Theory, facilitating behavioral and systems-level change. The findings further emphasize the value of sustainable, practical interventions that could be replicated in outpatient settings to promote equitable and inclusive mental healthcare.
Rights Management
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Recommended Citation
Adefioye, Adedamola, "Quality Improvement Project Evaluating the Impact of a Structured Training Program on Cultural Competency Among Mental Health Providers in a Local Outpatient Clinic" (2025). Doctor of Nursing Practice Projects. 145.
https://arch.astate.edu/dnp-projects/145
