Intercultural Health Strategy

In 2007, the HSE launched its first National Intercultural Health Strategy which was developed on foot of the National Action Plan against Racism launched by An Taoiseach in 2005.

The Strategy is designed to ensure that the HSE provides a quality health service equally to all, responds appropriately to the specific health and social care needs of new and well established minority communities and is an employer of choice for many. A summary of this Strategy is available on the HSE website in the following languages: -

Chinese	Czech	French
Irish	Lithuanian	Polish

Since publication, implementation of the Strategy has progressed on three main themes and these are Access to services; Data, Information & Research; and Staff Learning, Training and Support.

A good example of a practical resource is the Emergency Multilingual Aid which has been rolled out across a large number of hospitals in the country - this resource is designed to assist staff in communicating with patients who present in acute or emergency situations and who are not proficient in English. Another initiative was the development of a Health Services Intercultural Guide which has been designed to assist staff in caring in sensitive, culturally competent ways for inpatients from diverse religious communities and cultures. The Guide is being rolled out across hospitals, hospices, nursing homes and a range of other settings.

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