(CLAS) Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services Standards

Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services Standards (CLAS)
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CLAS Standards
Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services (CLAS) in healthcare renders to guidance standards that were incorporated in 2013 by the Minority of Health and the Department of Health and Human Services in the United States. The measures aim at improving the quality of services and eliminate healthcare inequalities by facilitating effective, equitable, respectful and understandable quality care. According to CLAS, healthcare services should be responsive and respectful to different cultural health beliefs and practices and should be offered with preferred languages that favor both parties; the healthcare provider and the patient. The standards also address leadership, employees and continuous improvement through accountability and health literacy. Managers typically utilize their leadership positions to educate their employees on the importance of CLAS standards not only for the organization but also for the community.
Managers play an essential role in shaping employees’ well-Being and overall work performance. Leaders have the responsibility of establishing a supportive work environment that promotes the client and employee well-being. Client and employee well-being is an important concept that should be prioritized in healthcare where employee health behaviors depict a great connection with the healthcare services. The managers are responsible for the employee well-being because they have the power to initiate and uphold a healthy workplace (Sorensen et al., 2017). They also have the opportunity to lead by example and be the agents of environmental change by creating suitable conditions and proper allocation of resources. Managers can always utilize their leadership skills to incorporate culturally competent services in an organization by encouraging healthy behaviors, educating employees on cultural beliefs and dynamics, and standard language in the organization. Cultural awareness facilitates healthy choices and promotes healthy habits when dealing with clients of different origin.
Cultural competence is the ability of an organization and the employees to deliver excellent services that meet the cultural, social, and linguistic needs of the society (Soloviova et al., 2019). A cultural competent work environment has employees who possess skills, attitude and knowledge of the clients from distinct cultural and linguistic backgrounds (Sorensen et al., 2017). Some cultural barriers in the healthcare setting may negatively impact the health outcome of the services and lead to expensive costs on healthcare systems. For instance, language barriers may have devastating effects on the client, such as misinterpretation of words. An example is the story of a teenager who collapsed during a high school sports event. The student was in the company of his girlfriend who spoke little English, and when asked what was wrong, she kept mentioning ‘intoxicado’. Her boyfriend was then rushed to the hospital, and when given treatment for drug abuse, he went to a 48-hour coma. The healthcare providers thought that the patient was a victim of intoxication, and...