April 11, 2025

National Minority Health Month: Guidance on Delivering Culturally Sensitive Care

April is National Minority Health Month. This month-long celebration highlights the importance of promoting and improving the health and wellness of historically marginalized communities, which continue to pay a heavy price from health inequities. Whether it's poorer outcomes for Black patients with chronic diseases like diabetes, low birth weights for Hispanic infants, or higher rates of behavioral health issues among LGBTQ+ youth, studies have shown a consistent gap among how patients access and fare in the health care system depending upon their identity.

Helping physicians understand the root causes of health inequities, including their own contributions to them, no matter how unconscious, is essential to ensure all patients receive the highest-quality care. The WSMA will celebrate this year's National Minority Health Month with a month-long campaign highlighting our health equity professional resources. Make the commitment today to advance health equity for the patients you serve, starting with the following guidance.

Building authentic relationships of trust and delivering culturally sensitive care

The WSMA and WSMA Foundation identified the need to mitigate the harm of racism perpetuated throughout medicine and set a goal to develop a plan for physicians and physician assistants to build authentic relationships of trust with diverse communities through mentorship, education, and community support programs. Building and maintaining trustworthy relationships with your patients is critical to delivering equitable and culturally sensitive care. Use the following best practice resources, developed by the WSMA and the WSMA Foundation, as a starting point.

Improving early detection of colon cancer - Colorectal cancer is the fourth most common cancer diagnosed in the U.S. with about 4.2% of men and women being diagnosed at some point in their lifetime. Currently, the U.S. Preventive Services Taskforce recommends starting screening for colorectal cancer at age 50, with some risk factors such as a family history indicating earlier screening. In Washington state, of adults aged 50-75, only 63% with commercial insurance and 43% with Medicaid received screening, with variation by county. Review guidance on delivering culturally sensitive care to improve rates of colon cancer screenings.

Preventing maternal mortality - The U.S. has the worst maternal mortality rate among developed nations. Death rates amongst Black birthing people are higher than other racial groups. Black birthing people are three times more likely to die from a pregnancy-related cause than white birthing people. Pregnancy-related mortality is preventable if the root causes are identified and addressed early on. Review guidance on delivering culturally sensitive care to prevent maternal mortality.

Improving early detection of endometrial cancer - Endometrial cancer is detectable early due to symptoms such as postmenopausal bleeding. It is always treatable and often cured. Black women have a 98% higher rate of death from endometrial cancer compared to white women, much of which is due to late-stage diagnosis. The goal is to have no difference in stage of endometrial cancer diagnosis by race, class, ethnicity, or sexual orientation. Review guidance on delivering culturally sensitive care to improve early detection of endometrial cancer.

Guidance on key terms, definitions, further reading, and more

For more guidance on building trust with your patients, visit the WSMA Foundation's Inclusive Language and Health Equity Resources, where you'll find:

• Learning about trust: Guidance on key terms, definitions, and background material.
• Tools and templates for building trust in your community.
• Additional resources, including a list of state health coalitions representing Washington state's diverse communities.
• Further reading on achieving health equity.

For all of our health equity resources and CME opportunities, take a moment to explore the WSMA Foundation's health equity webpages.