Why is culturally responsive care important?

AmeriHealth Caritas District of Columbia strives to help our providers coordinate culturally responsive health care services for underserved and vulnerable enrollees.

Health care services that are respectful of and responsive to the health beliefs, practices, and cultural and linguistic needs of diverse patient populations are more effective at improving the quality of life of our enrollees — your patients.

For some, language is the first barrier to health care. But along with language, an individual's culture influences:

• An individual's health, healing and wellness belief systems
• How a patient perceives an illness, disease and their causes
• The behaviors of patients who are seeking health care and their attitudes toward health care providers

The provider who looks at the world through his or her own limited set of values or experiences can compromise the delivery of services to patients from other cultures.