Hot off the press! This guide to culturally competent patient care can serve as both a college text or a training tool for health professionals.

Because of growing concerns that studying culture-specific information can lead  to stereotyping patients, this edition includes a new chapter about developing cultural self-awareness as well as learning about patients' health beliefs and practices. It also adds information about U.S. "language access laws" and national standards and how to use cultural information while avoiding stereotypes.

The focus, however, is still the controversial: one of earlier editions chapters summarizing some of the traditional healthcare beliefs and practices of African, Caribbean and Africa American patients, American Indians and Alaska Natives, Hispanics/Latinos, Middle Easterners and Eastern Europeans. Such information is a two-edged sword: will this information broaden perspectives--or lead health professionals not to treat each patient as culturally unique?