PEN® eNews 15(2) February 2025 - Cultural Humility and Nutrition Month!

New Background Document on Cultural Humility

Cultural humility is similar to cultural safety but provides a more comprehensive approach to understanding the self in relation to power, privilege and the intersectional nature of identities. Cultural humility encourages healthcare practitioners to better understand themselves in relation to their clients, while also respecting others’ worldviews, beliefs and lived experiences. 

Dietitians can play a crucial role in dismantling the power structures that perpetuate and exacerbate health disparities. Learning about and reflecting on internalized biases, assumptions and prejudices; creating inclusive, welcoming and equitable environments; ensuring culturally responsive care and counselling; and participating in ongoing advocacy and education are strategies that dietitians can use to address systemic barriers to healthcare, enact positive change and promote health.

For more information on Cultural Humility, read our background document here.

Does Cultural Safety Training for Dietitians Make a Difference?

Indigenous cultural safety training programs for healthcare providers in Canada, Australia and the Unites States of America may improve outcomes for some patients when developed, implemented and evaluated in collaboration with Indigenous communities and combined with cultural safety strategies at the organizational level. These training programs may not provide benefits on their own. 

Cultural competency training for healthcare professionals that seeks to increase competence of African American, Latino/Latina/Hispanic and Asian cultures may have no effect on patient outcomes, including self-management behaviours and patient satisfaction.  

A recommendation about the effectiveness of cultural safety training for dietitians on outcomes for 2SLGBTQIA+ individuals could not be made due to a lack of evidence in this population.

Evidence is sparse across all cultural groups included here, and more research is needed.

Grade of Evidence: C & D, depending on the outcome.

To see the full practice question, including the Evidence Statements, Remarks and References, click here.

Tips to Incorporate Cultural Humility Into Your Practice

There are many frameworks to help healthcare providers, including dietitians, to incorporate cultural humility in their practice. Generally, these frameworks emphasize: 

• Engaging in self-reflection to identify personal biases and knowledge gaps. 

• Addressing knowledge gaps through training and education. 

• Building trust with clients.  

• Integrating culturally appropriate content into healthcare recommendations.

Specific examples relating to various populations can be found in the full practice question.

Grade of Evidence: C

To see the full practice question, including the Evidence Statements, Remarks and References, click here.

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Did You Know?

Have you noticed that some PEN pathways include a "Message to Our Readers"? Some topics include controversial language or concepts that can be interpreted in multiple ways. In these cases, we include a Message to Our Readers to clarify our meaning and/or to highlight the evidence that we’ve used to inform our decision. If a topic includes a Message to Our Readers, you can find it on the right-hand side of the page (circled in red in the picture below).

Happy reading!