Cultural competence refers to awareness of unique, and defining characteristics of the populations
for which health professionals provide care and from which they wish to enroll clinical research
participants.1 Cultural competence entails understanding the importance of social and cultural
influence on patients’ health beliefs and behaviors.2 According to the literature, numerous terms
have been used interchangeably to define cultural competence including awareness,3
responsiveness, safety4 and sensitivity.5 However, unlike cultural responsiveness, sensitivity or
appropriateness, cultural competency moves beyond sensitivity or awareness to action.3 Therefore
for purposes of this training module, cultural competence is considered a broad concept which
encompasses not only a researcher’s understanding of his/her study participants, but also
expression of this awareness in his/her actions in research design, conduct and interpretation.