Cultural Competence And Outcome Analysis

Evaluation Purpose, Logic and Indicators

Cultural competence is a set of values, behaviours, beliefs, and policies that come together in a service or amid practitioners, to enable the service or practitioners to work effectively in cross-cultural systems (Sonal-Valias 2009, p. 2). Understanding a person’s culture helps staff members understand how the person views their environment (Government of South Australia 2006, p. 8). By understanding the person’s culture staff members are equipped to avoid stereotypes and biases that can negatively impact the working relationship (Government of South Australia 2006, p. 8). The cultural competence staff training project’s goal is to assist frontline workers to be able to effectively communicate with

clients of different cultures. This can result in positive working relationships, inclusive work environment, and positive responses from service users (Lumby & Farrelly 2009, p. 14; Sonal-Valias 2009, p. 2).
The type of evaluation for this project will be an outcome evaluation.

An outcome evaluation is the evaluation of the changes that occurred from the implementation of the training project, which result from the established activities implemented to achieve the cultural competency training project goals, and a systematic evaluation of the extent that the activities selected caused the outcomes to occur (Sonal-Valias 2009, p. 2). This evaluation will determine the effectiveness of the cultural competency staff training project meeting the objectives and goals, determining the level of quality in service delivery, and identify the strengths and weaknesses in the project implementation (Savaya & Waysman 2005, p. 85). Outcome evaluations are focused on continuous quality improvement, this encourages the examination of ways to constantly improve the effectiveness and competence of the organisation’s services and programs in order to increase benefits for the service users (Sonal-Valias 2009, p. 2). Continuous quality improvement results in creating an environment in which quality improvement regarding cultural competence for service users is a key part of creating the organisational culture (Sonal-Valias 2009, p. 2).

The purpose of the outcome evaluation is to assess the effectiveness of the set activities in regards to the benefits achieved, identify the strengths and weaknesses of the training project, and to provide suggestions for improvement for future staff training projects

(Sonal-Valias 2009, p. 2).
This evaluation plan will be focusing on evaluating the outcomes of a cultural competence training program for frontline 100 staff members across four different sites.

The leadership has provided funding for the training to enable frontline staff, who interact directly with clients to provide a culturally competent service. The training project is still in the process of being conceptualised, therefore the training project is yet to be implemented. The evaluation audience includes the organisation, the staff, the service user, and key stakeholders such as government departments.

The logical framework model is a method of formatting a project logic, performance measured to demonstrate that measures are appropriate and link to the success of a program (Frey 2013, p. 63). The logical framework addresses the activities, outputs and outcomes. The activity is training program, with the output being the staff ready to practice in a culturally competent manner, resulting in the outcome of culturally competent staff and

practice.
The evaluation plan will be of an experimental approach. Experimental evaluation designs can provide evidence of correlation or causal relationship between the training program and the intended outcomes (Ozanne & Rose 2013, p. 251). This involves comparing two groups to see if the desired outcomes are likely to occur in the group that received the cultural competency training (Ozanne & Rose 2013, p. 251). In an experimental design subjects are randomly assigned to two groups, one group will receive the cultural competence training, the other will not (the control group).
Outcome indicators are utilised to assess if the training program objectives have been achieved. An indicator is determines what data needs to be gathered to assist in evaluating the progress of the training program (Sonal-Valias 2009, p. 2). Objectively Verifiable Indicators (OVIs) display the key features of the objectives and the standard expected to be reached in regards to quality, quantity, and the time frame. The means of verification refers to how the data will be attained to prove the objectives defined by the indicator have been achieved. The first key indicator is if the service user’s perspective of the organisation and their practice has improved. A second key indicator is the improvement of communication and service delivery between provider and to the service user, and between staff that promote cultural competence.
A third key indicator is the changes in the staff’s awareness, knowledge, skills through culturally competent practice, resulting in delivering a culturally competent practice.