No other hospital department cares for patients as diverse as those who come to the Emergency Department (ED). These patients encompass all stages and positions of life and health. Many belong to distinct minority cultures defined by the patient's sexual orientation and gender identity, disability, spirituality, language, race, and ethnicity. It has been well documented that minorities experience inadequate emergency treatment and face poorer healthcare outcomes. Furthermore, research has established that the elderly, ethnic minorities, the poor, and persons with Medicaid coverage are more likely than other people to utilize the emergency department rather than primary care services. With the passage of the Affordable Care Act, particularly the Medicaid expansion, EDs across the United States are poised to care for an unprecedented number of underserved minorities. The need to equip emergency healthcare professionals to practice medicine that is culturally competent in the broadestpossible sense has never been greater. Diversity and Inclusion in Quality Patient Care aims to fill this need.

Editors:
Marcus L. Martin, MD
Vice President and Chief Officer for Diversity and Equity
Professor of Emergency Medicine
University of Virginia School of Medicine
Department of Emergency Medicine
Charlottesville, VA, USA
 
Sheryl Heron, MD, MPH
Professor of Emergency Medicine
Vice Chair Administrative Affairs
Assistant Dean Clinical Education& Student Affairs
Emory University School of Medicine
Atlanta, GA, USA
 
Lisa Moreno-Walton, MD, MS, MSCR
Professor of Emergency Medicine
Director of Emergency Medicine Research
Director of Diversity in Emergency Medicine
Department of Medicine, Section of Emergency Medicine
Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center- New Orleans
New Orleans, LA, USA
 
Managing Editor:
Anna Walker Jones, BA
Charlottesville, VA, USA

Defining Diversity in Quality Care.- Racial/Ethnic Healthcare Disparities and Inequities: Historical Perspectives.- Educating Medical Professionals to Deliver Quality Health Care to Diverse Patient Populations.- Culturally Competent Faculty.- Culturally Sensitive Care: A Review of Models& Educational Methods.- Interpreter Services.- The Patient-Physician Clinical Encounter.- Spiritual Care Services in Emergency Medicine.- Lesbian, Gay, or Bisexual (LGB): Caring with Quality and Compassion.- Culturally Competent Care of the Transgender Patient.- Looking Past Labels: Effective Care of the Psychiatric Patient.- Disability and Access.- Racial and Ethnic Disparities in the Emergency Department: A Public Health Perspective.- Vulnerable Populations: The Homeless and Incarcerated.- Vulnerable Populations: The Elderly.- Vulnerable Populations: Children.- Religio-cultural Consideration When Providing Healthcare to American Muslims.- Disparities and Diversity in Biomedical Research.- Cultural Competency Case Studies: Transitional Introduction.- Case 1: African-American Infant and Family.- Case 2: Cambodian Refugee.- Case 3: Sickle Cell Crisis.- Case 4: Mongolian Spots.- Case 5: Death Disclosure.- Case 6: Coin Rubbing.- Case 7: Toxic Ingestion.- Case 8: Adolescent Indian Male Sikh.- Case 9: Intimate Partner Violence in the Gay Community.- Case 10: West Indian/Caribbean.- Case 11: American Indian.- Case 12: Spiritualism in the Latino Community.- Case 13: Islamic Patient.- Case 14: Pediatric Pain.