Skip to main content
PMC home page
Journal of the National Medical Association logoLink to Journal of the National Medical Association
. 2005 Aug;97(8):1078–1087.

Satisfaction with and perceived cultural competency of healthcare providers: the minority experience.

Cynthia T Cook 1, Omofolasade Kosoko-Lasaki 1, Richard O'Brien 1
PMCID: PMC2576005  PMID: 16173322

Abstract

It is well known that nonwhite minority participation in clinical research is lower than their representation in the community. The goal of this study was to assess satisfaction of minority community members in Omaha with the care received and cultural competency of healthcare providers. We sought input from Omaha minority communities on how to improve the care they received and asked why they did not participate in healthcare research. Seventy-two minority members representing African Americans, Hispanic Americans, Native Americans, Sudanese, and Vietnamese; and eight whites were surveyed. The results of this study indicated that the majority of our respondents were satisfied with the care they received, but for a small percentage, language, communication and/or culture contributed to dissatisfaction. In addition, some respondents did not think the provider was culturally competent, i.e., not sufficiently knowledgeable about their racial, ethnic and/or cultural background. Some participants indicated that they preferred a provider of similar racial, ethnic and/or cultural background, and/or thought some diseases were better treated by a provider of the same racial, ethnic and/or cultural background. Regardless of the cultural competency of the provider, the overwhelming majority of our respondents (with the exception of African Americans) indicated a willingness to participate in healthcare research. In conclusion, this study found that satisfaction with healthcare providers was not associated with perceived cultural competency and that the cultural competency of the provider did not affect patient willingness to participate in healthcare research; however, we acknowledge that the Hawthorne effect may be in operation.

Full text

PDF
1078

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Anderson L. A., Dedrick R. F. Development of the Trust in Physician scale: a measure to assess interpersonal trust in patient-physician relationships. Psychol Rep. 1990 Dec;67(3 Pt 2):1091–1100. doi: 10.2466/pr0.1990.67.3f.1091. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Aruguete Mara S., Roberts Carlos A. Participants' ratings of male physicians who vary in race and communication style. Psychol Rep. 2002 Dec;91(3 Pt 1):793–806. doi: 10.2466/pr0.2002.91.3.793. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Baker Richard, Mainous Arch G., 3rd, Gray Denis Pereira, Love Margaret M. Exploration of the relationship between continuity, trust in regular doctors and patient satisfaction with consultations with family doctors. Scand J Prim Health Care. 2003 Mar;21(1):27–32. doi: 10.1080/0283430310000528. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Cooper Lisa A., Roter Debra L., Johnson Rachel L., Ford Daniel E., Steinwachs Donald M., Powe Neil R. Patient-centered communication, ratings of care, and concordance of patient and physician race. Ann Intern Med. 2003 Dec 2;139(11):907–915. doi: 10.7326/0003-4819-139-11-200312020-00009. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Derose K. P., Hays R. D., McCaffrey D. F., Baker D. W. Does physician gender affect satisfaction of men and women visiting the emergency department? J Gen Intern Med. 2001 Apr;16(4):218–226. doi: 10.1046/j.1525-1497.2001.016004218.x. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Doescher M. P., Saver B. G., Franks P., Fiscella K. Racial and ethnic disparities in perceptions of physician style and trust. Arch Fam Med. 2000 Nov-Dec;9(10):1156–1163. doi: 10.1001/archfami.9.10.1156. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Kao A. C., Green D. C., Zaslavsky A. M., Koplan J. P., Cleary P. D. The relationship between method of physician payment and patient trust. JAMA. 1998 Nov 18;280(19):1708–1714. doi: 10.1001/jama.280.19.1708. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Keating Nancy L., Gandhi Tejal K., Orav E. John, Bates David W., Ayanian John Z. Patient characteristics and experiences associated with trust in specialist physicians. Arch Intern Med. 2004 May 10;164(9):1015–1020. doi: 10.1001/archinte.164.9.1015. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Krupat E., Bell R. A., Kravitz R. L., Thom D., Azari R. When physicians and patients think alike: patient-centered beliefs and their impact on satisfaction and trust. J Fam Pract. 2001 Dec;50(12):1057–1062. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Ngo-Metzger Quyen, Legedza Anna T. R., Phillips Russell S. Asian Americans' reports of their health care experiences. Results of a national survey. J Gen Intern Med. 2004 Feb;19(2):111–119. doi: 10.1111/j.1525-1497.2004.30143.x. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. O'Malley Ann S., Forrest Christopher B. Beyond the examination room: primary care performance and the patient-physician relationship for low-income women. J Gen Intern Med. 2002 Jan;17(1):66–74. doi: 10.1046/j.1525-1497.2002.10338.x. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. O'Malley Ann S., Sheppard Vanessa B., Schwartz Marc, Mandelblatt Jeanne. The role of trust in use of preventive services among low-income African-American women. Prev Med. 2004 Jun;38(6):777–785. doi: 10.1016/j.ypmed.2004.01.018. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Safran D. G., Kosinski M., Tarlov A. R., Rogers W. H., Taira D. H., Lieberman N., Ware J. E. The Primary Care Assessment Survey: tests of data quality and measurement performance. Med Care. 1998 May;36(5):728–739. doi: 10.1097/00005650-199805000-00012. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Shavers-Hornaday V. L., Lynch C. F., Burmeister L. F., Torner J. C. Why are African Americans under-represented in medical research studies? Impediments to participation. Ethn Health. 1997 Mar-Jun;2(1-2):31–45. doi: 10.1080/13557858.1997.9961813. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Shavers V. L., Lynch C. F., Burmeister L. F. Factors that influence African-Americans' willingness to participate in medical research studies. Cancer. 2001 Jan 1;91(1 Suppl):233–236. doi: 10.1002/1097-0142(20010101)91:1+<233::aid-cncr10>3.0.co;2-8. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Shavers Vickie L., Lynch Charles F., Burmeister Leon F. Racial differences in factors that influence the willingness to participate in medical research studies. Ann Epidemiol. 2002 May;12(4):248–256. doi: 10.1016/s1047-2797(01)00265-4. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Sheppard Vanessa B., Zambrana Ruth E., O'Malley Ann S. Providing health care to low-income women: a matter of trust. Fam Pract. 2004 Oct;21(5):484–491. doi: 10.1093/fampra/cmh503. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Thom D. H., Ribisl K. M., Stewart A. L., Luke D. A. Further validation and reliability testing of the Trust in Physician Scale. The Stanford Trust Study Physicians. Med Care. 1999 May;37(5):510–517. doi: 10.1097/00005650-199905000-00010. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Thom D. H., Stanford Trust Study Physicians Physician behaviors that predict patient trust. J Fam Pract. 2001 Apr;50(4):323–328. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. Thom David H., Kravitz Richard L., Bell Robert A., Krupat Edward, Azari Rahman. Patient trust in the physician: relationship to patient requests. Fam Pract. 2002 Oct;19(5):476–483. doi: 10.1093/fampra/19.5.476. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Journal of the National Medical Association are provided here courtesy of National Medical Association

RESOURCES