Connecting to Care: Cultural Navigator Training

We offer two Connecting to Care training programs – a 24-hour Cultural Navigator course and a 10-hour Cultural Navigator in Public Health course.  The 24-hour course is geared towards working as a cultural navigator in a hospital, clinic, or other health care organization that treats patients. The 10-hour course is geared towards working as a cultural navigator in public health, as part of a public health team that is community-focused.

Our 24-hour course is designed for individuals, such as medical interpreters or community health workers, who want to enhance their daily work with patients or community members and the health care team. This 24-hour course introduces you to foundational knowledge and skills to support the patient or community member as they navigate the health care system, as well as connecting patient/community member to  local community resources that can help them achieve optimal health. Individuals who would benefit from this course include medical interpreters, community health workers, patient navigators, and cultural navigators, among others. This is an interactive course that includes group discussions, opportunities for reflection, case studies, and role plays.

The 10-hour course is somewhat similar in content and interactivity as the 24-hour one, but includes less material about navigating health care organizations/system, and working with patients as well as providers and other members of a health care team. Instead, it focuses on the role of the cultural navigator or community health worker in public health, and working as a member of a public health team to address community/public health issues, such as an outbreak of a communicable illness in a community, or informing the community about public health initiatives.

Upon successful completion of these courses, participants receive a certificate of completion.

During the training, you will learn about the key roles and competencies of a health care cultural navigator, and about the history of patient navigation. You will also gain an in-depth understanding about the barriers to equitable care that members of marginalized or vulnerable populations face, and how those barriers can be overcome through culturally competent support, patient/community member education, effective communication, teamwork, and person-centered care. You will learn how to help educate patients about accessing health care delivery systems and hospital support services – always working together with the patient’s treatment team.

In the 10-hour Cultural Navigator in Public Health training, the material and skills you learn pertain to working as a navigator in a public health setting or scenario, while the 24-hour course teaches content and skills relevant to navigators who work in health system, hospital or clinic settings.

The curriculum includes:

• Key Roles and Competencies of a Cultural Navigator
• Professional Ethics
• The Culture of Western Medicine and Health Care System Models around the World (24 hour course only)
• Health Equity/Health Disparities and Barriers to Equitable Care
• The Social Determinants of Health
• Cultural Competency and Cultural Humility
• Structural Competency
• Culturally Competent Language Services
• Communication Skills
• System Education and Coaching: skills and information to teach patients about the health care system and promote the patient’s autonomy. (24-hour course only)
• Effective Advocacy
• Person-Centered Care (24-hour course only)
• Professional Development and Self-Care