Ethical Service Delivery to Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Populations: A Specific Focus on Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Populations

Author(s):  
Tedd Masiongale

Abstract Purpose: Shifting demographics amid a growing population have given rise to a culturally and linguistically diverse client base. Professionals' recognition and understanding of effective service delivery with individuals from culturally and linguistically diverse groups is improving. Cultural competence is emerging as a necessary skill set for practitioners to deliver clinically competent services with diverse communities including the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender (GLBT) population. Method: Current literature and Internet sources were used to gather demographic information analyze policy documents related to ethical service delivery and explore current trends and recommendations for appropriate service delivery with a specific focus on the GLBT population. Results and Conclusions: The demographic makeup of the U.S. population is rapidly changing. Professionals, especially those outside urban areas, are only beginning to understand and adapt their clinical practices to adequately serve the GLBT population. Despite some resistance to change and political maneuvering, which could be construed to contradict ethical service delivery, professionals are realizing that ethical service delivery that embraces a recognition of their own culture and that of the individuals they serve results in greater functional outcomes.

Author(s):  
Ashley M. Frazier

Abstract School speech-language pathologists (SLPs) are increasingly likely to serve children of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender (GLBT) parents or GLBT students as cultural and societal changes create growth in the population and increased willingness to disclose sexual orientation. The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) has a progressive nondiscrimination statement that includes sexual orientation as a protected status and strongly urges the membership to develop cultural competence as a matter of ethical service delivery. The purpose of this article is to describe cultural competence in relation to GLBT culture, discuss GLBT parent and student cultural issues as they are important in parent-school or student-school relations, and to provide suggestions for increasing sensitivity in these types of interactions. A list of resources is provided.


2014 ◽  
Vol 23 (5) ◽  
pp. 533-550 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sudha Arlikatti ◽  
Hassan A. Taibah ◽  
Simon A. Andrew

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the information channels used by public and nonprofit organizations to communicate disaster risk information to Colonias residents in Hidalgo County, Texas. It seeks to find creative and proactive solutions for organizations to improve risk education to these constituents. Design/methodology/approach – Initially a snowball sampling technique was used to conduct six face-to-face interviews. This was followed by an online survey sent to 64 reputational referrals, of which 23 completed the survey, generating a response rate of 34 percent. A comparative analysis between public and nonprofit organizations and the Fischer's exact test were employed to analyze the data. Findings – Channel preferences for providing risk information varied with public organizations using the television (TV) and the nonprofit organizations using bilingual staff for outreach. The television, radio, public events, and bilingual staff were considered to be the most effective while social media (Facebook, Twitter, and city web sites) was not considered at all by both groups. Lack of funding and staffing problems were identified as the primary challenges. Research limitations/implications – One limitation is that the paper focusses on organizations serving Spanish speakers in the Texas Colonias. Future research needs to investigate how other localities at border sites where culturally and linguistically diverse groups might reside, receive and understand risk information. The role of cross-national organizations in creating internationally coordinated plans for disaster communication should also be explored. Originality/value – It highlights the challenges faced by organizations in communicating risk, especially in border communities where culturally and linguistically diverse groups reside.


2007 ◽  
Vol 16 (6) ◽  
pp. 1000-1011 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth J Halcomb ◽  
Leila Gholizadeh ◽  
Michelle DiGiacomo ◽  
Jane Phillips ◽  
Patricia M Davidson

1994 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 37-45 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jozi De Leon ◽  
Jack Cole

Bilingual special education programs have been established in many school districts across the country to address the unique needs of culturally and linguistically diverse exceptional students (CLDE). Rural school districts may have difficulty meeting the specialized needs of CLDE students due to the limited availability of resources, especially individuals trained in bilingual special education. This study examines the availability of programs which could serve CLDE students, the training of personnel in these programs, and whether educational diagnosticians and speech language pathologists (SLPs) apply procedures which take into account language and cultural factors. The authors suggest that rural school districts can provide service delivery if special educators are trained in cultural and language areas while bilingual and English as a second language (ESL) teachers are trained in exceptionalities.


2020 ◽  
pp. 152574012091520
Author(s):  
Sabiha Parveen ◽  
Siva priya Santhanam

A clinician’s perceived competence determines his or her ability to attain clinical outcomes and persevere through challenging situations. This study examined the perceived competence of 337 speech-language pathologists (SLPs), including monolingual and bilingual, working with culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) clients within the United States. Results indicated comparable competence levels of both monolingual and bilingual SLPs in their service delivery to monolingual English-speaking clients. However, bilingual SLPs reported significantly higher competency than monolingual SLPs while working with non-English-speaking clients in different areas of service delivery, including speech and language assessment, dealing with challenging clinical situations, and responding to questions regarding intervention outcomes. It is likely that language concordance, awareness, and understanding of linguistic and cultural expectations of non-English-speakers help surpass communication barriers leading to increased perceived competence among bilingual SLPs. This study summarizes persisting challenges in service delivery of CLD populations and possible recommendations for preservice training of SLPs.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document