Do you need to know more about cultural competence, or want to understand more about a specific culture? CYFERnet has a number of resources to promote respect and understanding of cultural diversity. Do you need information about the impact of culture on health? See the resources that CYFERnet has to offer on health and nutrition with diverse audiences. Do you need help with designing programs for culturally diverse audiences? CYFERnet also has many resources on programming with culturally diverse audiences. Want more information? Try searching the keywords “diversity”, “culture”, or “cultural competence” or browse through CYFERnet’s subject categories.

Resources to Promote Respect and Understanding of Cultural Diversity

National Center for Cultural Competence
The mission of the National Center for Cultural Competence (NCCC) is to increase the capacity of health and mental health programs to design implement, and evaluate culturally and linguistically competent service delivery systems.

Helping Children Develop Cultural Competence
This fact sheet discusses cultural competence and ways to develop this ability in young people.

Extensión en Español
Extensión en Español is a grass roots organization of Extension educators that seeks to better serve Spanish-speaking clients by sharing expertise and materials across the Cooperative Extension System and maintain a national clearinghouse for Spanish-language educational resources operated by and for Extension professionals.

Race, Class, Culture and Perceived Entitlements
Race, class and culture have converged in the United States to create a climate in which many young black men perceive that their only option is to try not to care and look cool doing it. The problem is not that these young people are disconnected. The problem is that they never were connected and never explicitly promised assistance. In this provocative column, Karen examines the issues surrounding young people’s perceptions about their rights to opportunities and the proper response when those rights are denied.

Family Involvement in Children’s Education ― Reaching Out to Families Who Are Different
Language and cultural differences, as well as the differences in educational attainment that sometimes separate families and school staff, can make communication and family participation in school activities difficult. This article discusses this concept in more detail.

Multiracial Children
This publication describes the rise in multiracial children and gives ideas to help children in the challenges facing them such as biases, questions from other children, etc.

Dynamics of Race, Culture and Key Indicators of Health In the Nation's 100 Largest Cities and Their Suburbs 
This report profiles the 2000 status of and changes since 1990 in rates of health and health-related measures for racially and culturally diverse populations living in the nation's 100 largest cities and their suburbs. Data were drawn from the U.S. Census Bureau and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to identify patterns in race/ethnicity, foreign-born status, language use, poverty, income, low birth weight, teen births, prenatal care and tuberculosis.

Every Child is a Unique and Special Person
This two-page fact sheet offers suggestions of activities to honor each child's different heritage and customs, as well as individual differences.

Helping Children Develop Cultural Competence
This fact sheet discusses cultural competence and ways to develop it in young people.

Accomplishing Cross Cultural Competence in Youth Development Programs
Vital ingredients to develop or accomplish cultural competence and a continuum-of-competence quiz.

Resources on Health and Nutrition for Diverse Audiences

Health Problems in African American Women
This website provides information on the following common health issues facing African American women: asthma, breast and other cancers, diabetes, getting health care, heart disease, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, HIV/AIDS, infant deaths, kidney disease, lupus, overweight and obesity, pregnancy-related death, sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), sickle cell anemia, smoking, stroke, tuberculosis, and uterine fibroids.

Minority Women's Health
This section of the NWHIC web site addresses the most common health risks and concerns of minority women. Even though minority women have many of the same health problems as white women, they are in poorer health. Minority women use fewer health services and continue to suffer more from premature death, disease, and disabilities. Many also face huge social, economic, and cultural barriers to having life-long good health. Also, because minority groups are very diverse, even within one group, these women's access to health care, their health behaviors, and their health status can vary widely.

Food Guide for African Americans
As a society our culture has a lot to do with our food habits and customs. This is true of almost every culture in America including the African American culture. African Americans are one of the largest cultural groups in the United States composed of about 30 million people. This is more than 12 percent of the total population in America.

Health Problems in American Indian/Alaska Native Women
This website provides information on the following common health problems found in American Indian/Alaska Native women: alcoholism, cancers, cardiovascular, disease, diabetes, gallstones, getting health care, HIV/AIDS, infant deaths, obesity and overweight, smoking, suicide.

Health Problems in Asian American/Pacific Islander and Native Hawaiian Women
This website provides information on the following common health problems found in Asian American/Pacific Islander and Native Hawaiian women: breast cancer, cervical cancer, diabetes, getting health care, heart disease, hepatitis b, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, obesity and overweight, osteoporosis, smoking stroke, suicide, and tuberculosis.

Health Problems in Hispanic American/Latina Women
This website provides information on the following common health problems found in Hispanic American/Latina women: alcoholism and illicit drug use, breast cancer, cervical cancer, depression, diabetes, getting health care, heart disease, high cholesterol, HIV/AIDS, obesity and overweight, other cancers, smoking, stroke.

Fact Sheet on Latino Youth: Health Care Access
This fact sheet provides information and statistics about Latino youth access to health care. Latinos (15%) are more likely than non-Latino whites (11%) and African Americans (10%) to report having difficulty receiving necessary health care or experiencing delays in receiving services. A more coordinated effort is necessary to increase health insurance rates among Latinos while also addressing the larger socioeconomic, cultural, and political issues that prevent Latinos from accessing health services.

Fact Sheet on Latino Youth: STIs and HIV/AIDS
This fact sheet provides information and statistics regarding Latino youth and STIs and HIV/AIDS. Though condom use is increasing among Latinos, unsafe sexual behavior continues to put them at risk for contracting STIs. Increasing awareness regarding the nature of STIs, methods of prevention, and access to health care services that ensure early detection and treatment can help Latino youth protect their health and fertility and the health of their current and future partners.

National Hispanic Family Health
The mission of National Alliance for Hispanic Health is to improve the health and well-being of Hispanics. It is the nation’s oldest and largest network of Hispanic health and human services providers.

Su Familia: The National Hispanic Family Health Helpline
The National Hispanic Family Health Helpline (1-866-783-2645) is a national helpline that offers consumers free reliable and confidential health information in Spanish and English.

Equal Rights to Health
The Foundation, together with The California Endowment, Morehouse School of Medicine and Casey Family programs, sponsored a roundtable, "Equal Rights to health," to learn more about combating obesity among low-income racial and ethnic minority children. This report offers a set of suggested action items.

Resources on Programming for Diverse Audiences

A Process for Learning About and Creating Programs for Culturally Diverse Audiences
This fact sheet describes how important it is to create educational programs with the newer culturally diverse society in mind.

American Indian and Alaska Native Programs
The mission of the American Indian and Alaska Native Programs (AIANP) is to promote the health and well-being of American Indians and Alaska Natives, of all ages, by pursuing research, training, continuing education, technical assistance, and information dissemination within a biopsychosocial framework that recognizes the unique cultural contexts of this special population.

Helping Youth Succeed
Helping Youth Succeed is a culturally sensitive program developed by Southeast Asians for Southeast Asian Families. Through stories presented both on video and in writing, families learn about other Southeast Asian parents and youth in familiar and current situations.

Mid-Atlantic Equity Consortium
The mission of the Mid-Atlantic Equity Consortium (MAEC) is to assist school systems and other educational organizations to create learning environments free of race, gender, class, ethnic and culture biases so that students of all backgrounds will have equal opportunities to flourish.

Soy Unica! Soy Latina!
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) has developed a bilingual initiative for Hispanic girls ages 9-14 and their mothers and other caregivers. This public education initiative, called “¡Soy Unica! ¡Soy Latina!” is designed to help them build and enhance their own self-esteem, mental health, decision-making and assertiveness skills, and to prevent the harmful consequences of alcohol, tobacco and illicit drugs. The ¡Soy Unica! ¡Soy Latina! project encourages cultural pride by emphasizing the strengths inherent in the Hispanic culture. Initiative materials include posters, activity books, brochures and a Web site for 9-14-year-old girls. The material addresses belonging and adaptation, teaches assertiveness and decision-making skills and provides tips on becoming healthy and successful young adults.

Culture and Parenting: A Guide for Delivering Parenting Curriculums to Diverse Families
This booklet is an information guide for practitioners for delivering parenting curriculums. It provides guidance regarding the cultural sensitivity of programs and services offered to families. Cultural frameworks are described. Research and tips are provided on topics that include communication, discipline, bonding, family structures, gender roles, play and sleeping. Checklists are provided. 

Linguistic Diversity and Early Literacy: Serving Culturally Diverse Families in Early Head Start – Technical Assistance Paper No. 5
In this publication practices are identified that create a culturally responsive environment rich in literacy experiences for all participating families and that promote the later development of reading and writing.

Diversity: School, Family, and Community Connections
This review of the research is the third in a series of reports to help local school, community, and family leaders obtain useful research-based information about key educational issues. This synthesis focuses specifically on three categories: race or ethnicity, culture (including language), and socioeconomic status. The report also explores barriers to involvement for minority and low-income families, strategies that have been used to address those barriers, and recommendations that local educational leaders can adapt to address their specific needs.

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