Tip 5. Make a Health Care Quality Report Culturally Appropriate
A culturally appropriate report makes readers feel like the report was written for them. It fits with their cultural traditions and beliefs, making them feel respected and understood.
If your audience is culturally homogeneous, you can tailor your writing to that group. However, since most American audiences include a variety of cultural and ethnic groups, you’ll have to consider how your report might be perceived by different subgroups. For multicultural audiences, take care to write in ways that are “culturally neutral” enough to work well for a broad and diverse range of readers.
Apply What You Know About Your Audience
To make your report culturally appropriate, draw on what you already know about your intended readers—particularly their health-care-related knowledge, experience, and beliefs—to help decide which words to use and how to explain the measures and data.
Learn more about your audience’s knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs.
Get Help Directly From Your Readers
Your readers are the best resource you have for understanding what they will find appealing and culturally acceptable in a report and what will motivate them to use it. Members of the audience can help you understand the right language to use and the nuances of their culture, and recommend ways to anticipate and address potential problems and misunderstandings.
Learn more about testing your written materials with readers:
- Tip 7. Test the Report With Your Audience.
- How will you test aspects of your health care quality report?
Learn more about using feedback from readers to make written material more effective and culturally appropriate in Hoy EW, Kenney E, Talavera AC. Engaging consumers in designing a guide to Medi-Cal Managed Care Quality. California Health Care Foundation, 2004.
