This study investigates health care providers’ perceptions and practice in culturally sensitive care. 8 in-depth interviews were conducted with health care providers that lasted an average of 25 minutes. The findings revealed that health care providers tend to understand culturally sensitive care within the patient-centered care perspective. Their practice of culturally sensitive care is partially limited by language barriers, cultural barriers, and limited trainings in cultural sensitivity, while interpreting services, verbal and nonverbal communication strategies, collaborations with colleagues and self-education promote their practice of it. These findings underscore the importance of acknowledging health care providers’ influences in promoting culturally sensitive care, and the necessity of offering adequate amount of teachings and trainings in cultural sensitivity at health care programs and hospitals.

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The aim of this study was to examine Region Uppsala's health communication during the COVID-19 pandemic by answering the following research questions: In what ways have Region Uppsala practiced health communication during the COVID-19 pandemic to communicate with immigrant groups in Uppsala county? How has Region Uppsala collaborated with civil society and local actors to practice health communication during the COVID-19 pandemic? How can Region Uppsala's communicative efforts be understood from a culture-centered perspective on health communication?   A qualitative analysis was conducted on empirical data gathered through qualitative interviews with Region Uppsala employees and representatives from SIU (Samarbetsorganisationen för Invandrarföreningar i Uppsala), Röda Korset (the Red Cross) and the cultural function Gottsunda Kulturhus provided by Uppsala Kommun (Uppsala Municipality. The data was analyzed from the theoretical framework of a culture-centered approach to health communication as described by Mohan Dutta.   From this perspective, I found that Region Uppsala adopted a linear perspective on communication where the main objective has been to provide citizens with information. Region Uppsala has identified different obstacles that could determine whether they reach immigrant groups in vulnerable areas or not. Region Uppsala does, however, reinforce the gap between the organization and immigrant groups since there is a lack of understanding of how context, agency, and dialogue can be implemented in Region Uppsala's health communication to enable participation. Through collaboration with civil society and local actors, Region Uppsala has provided arenas where immigrant groups could engage in a dialogue. This has been facilitated by the local knowledge and relationship ties that the collaborators have in vulnerable areas in Uppsala. The results implicate that Region Uppsala's health communication efforts during the pandemic have been limited to this crisis when they could have been practiced with a broader scope of social change.

As the United States' population ages and grows more diverse, scholars and practitioners have grown increasingly concerned about persistent disparities in the cost and quality of end-of-life health care, particularly with regard to African Americans. Although a variety of factors may influence these disparities, most scholars agree that the underutilization of hospice care by this population is an important contributor. Drawing from the culture-centered approach to health communication and narrative theory, the present study explores African American patients and caregivers' experiences with hospice care and takes an initial step toward addressing disparities in end-of-life care. I begin this study, first, by positioning it within existing literature on health disparities and the underutilization of hospice care. I then outline the study's context and the ethnographic methods I used to complete it. Next, I discuss (a) participants' understanding of disparities in hospice utilization, (b) how participants' narrate their decisions about and experiences with hospice care, and (c) co-constructed solutions for addressing disparities in end-of-life care by creating partnerships between community members and local hospice organizations.

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Studies across countries emphasizes that communication barriers can severely hinder access to health care services by migrants, leading to health inequities. The aim of this explorative research was to gain a deeper understanding of migrants’ perspectives on public health communication in Jönköping, Sweden. Empirical data has been gathered through multicultural focus groups with migrants from countries outside Europe, living in the county of Jönköping. The data has been analyzed using Braun & Clarke’s six step model for thematic analysis and from the theoretical framework of a Culture-Centered Approach to health communication, as presented by Mohan Dutta.  The findings revealed communication barriers that hinder groups of migrants from accessing the public health communication and advice for improvement that could increase access and trust. The Swedish language, low digital use and limited digital skills as well as low trust towards the Swedish system are prominent obstacles that affect the communication processes in different layers. The participants express the need for a more flexible health system to increase access and prefer communication in native language verbally or printed. For those who use digital health communication, they want the Region to search engine-optimize in their native languages to ease the process of finding the right sources. Furthermore, authoritarian doctors as messengers of health communication are preferred. The health communication participants have received from the Region’s health communicators in their native language is presented to be a tool for increased trust and understanding. Their methods enable a participatory communication flow. To continue the development of participatory communication activities can be one way of combating the barriers faced by some groups of migrants. It is clear that a “one size fits all-communication approach”, with a focus on digital Swedish public health communication does not succeed to reach this target group. The communication barriers need to be understood from an organizational perspective. It is essential that migrants are invited to influence strategies, innovations and systems. In order to reduce the health gap, the Region needs to listen actively to migrants and engage them to co-create solutions that promote access and trust.

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