Co‐Designing Interprofessional Education to Enhance Cultural Competence in Swedish Healthcare
Jane Holstein, Annika Lindh Falk, Jan Sandqvist, Tiny Jaarsma, Mathilda BjörkIntroduction
As healthcare systems serve increasingly diverse populations, healthcare professionals face challenges in providing equitable, person‐centered, and culturally responsive care. This requires navigating diverse cultural perspectives, communication needs, and expectations regarding health and healthcare. Education in cultural competence can equip healthcare professionals with the knowledge, skills, and attitudes needed to provide culturally responsive care. However, educational programs in Sweden that support the development of cultural competence through interprofessional learning across healthcare professions and settings remain limited. The aim of the study was to describe the development of an educational prototype that enhances cultural competence among healthcare professionals across disciplines.
Method
The study used a co‐design methodology, in which healthcare professionals ( n = 11), patients ( n = 6), and researchers ( n = 5) collaborated in an iterative process to develop an educational prototype in cultural competence. The co‐design process was built on five elements, namely, engage, plan, explore, develop, and decide, which guided the data collected from February 2023 to June 2024. Data were generated through idea groups with healthcare professionals held at two hospitals, online interviews with patients, and iterative co‐design activities conducted by the research team in university settings using both face‐to‐face and digital meetings.
Results
The co‐design process informed both the content and structure of the educational prototype. During the exploration phase, participants highlighted the need for cultural competence education that emphasized experiential learning, communication skills, empathy, and a shared understanding of expectations among healthcare professionals and patients. During the development phase, participants emphasized that cultural competence education should be workplace‐based, involve all professional groups, and include evaluation of learning outcomes. Based on these findings, a four‐module educational prototype was developed, comprising cultural knowledge, cultural reasoning, cultural interaction, and cultural context. Each module was designed with specific learning objectives and associated learning activities.
Conclusions
The four modules in the educational prototype present a structured and adaptable approach for advancing cultural competence within Swedish healthcare. Developed through a co‐design process, the prototype incorporates critical insights from staff and patients, particularly regarding general cultural competence and empathy. Establishing the clinical relevance of the modules requires their implementation and evaluation by interprofessional teams, ensuring their applicability and guiding further refinement.