Large-scale pain studies risk reduced generalizability when participants do not reflect the linguistic and cultural representation of populations disproportionately affected by chronic pain. Cultural and linguistic adaptations can improve recruitment and retention of non‑English‑speaking participants, yet implementation remains inconsistent and under‑documented. This study aimed to characterize real‑world strategies, barriers, and facilitators encountered by clinical research teams implementing cultural and linguistic adaptations and to develop practical guidance for future studies.

A survey was distributed to 36 NIH‑HEAL–funded studies with evidence of recruiting of non‑English recruitment. Respondents (principal investigators, coordinators, and study staff) reported on cultural and linguistic adaptation methods, resources, experiences, and outcomes. Quantitative items were summarized descriptively, and open‑text responses were analyzed using an iterative descriptive qualitative approach integrating thematic and quantitative findings.

Eighteen surveys were completed and included in the analysis. Three recommendation-based orientations emerged, full, conditional, and reserved endorsement, aligning with differences in motivations, timing, resource allocation, and demographic recruitment success. Common barriers included regulatory delays, translation and database integration costs, and difficulty or shortages of hiring bilingual staff. Key facilitators included embedded linguistic and cultural expertise, alignment between recruitment sites and local demographics, and early, sustained community engagement.

Implementing cultural and linguistic adaptations is feasible but resource‑intensive. Early planning, adequate budgeting, bilingual staffing, strategic site selection, and stakeholder engagement are central to successful recruitment of non‑English‑speaking participants. These findings offer guidance to enhance equity, generalizability, and efficiency in pain‑focused clinical research.

Suicide remains a major global public health concern, and crisis helplines are increasingly recognised as important components of suicide prevention. The National Mental Health Helpline (NMHH) in Qatar was established in 2020 as a confidential, multilingual service designed to provide rapid assessment and intervention for individuals experiencing mental health crisis, including suicidality.

To identify independent factors associated with high-risk triage categorisation and in-patient admission among callers to Qatar’s NMHH over a 3-year period and to describe their sociodemographic and clinical profiles.

A 3-year cross-sectional chart review using stratified random sampling analysed 698 cases representing low-, moderate- and high-priority categories. Assessments were conducted using the Australian State of Victoria’s Statewide Mental Health Triage Scale, supported by clinical assessment, the Patient Health Questionnaire-9, the Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 scale, and the Situation, Background, Assessment and Recommendation (SBAR) framework. Logistic regression analyses were performed to identify predictors of high-risk categorisation and in-patient admission.

During the study period, 50 803 calls were received. The analytic sample was evenly distributed by gender (50.1% female), with a median age of 29 years, and 75.9% were non-Qatari. Common symptoms included disturbed sleep (47%), anxiety (43%) and depressed mood (36%). Female gender, severe mental illness, impulsivity and suicidal ideation independently predicted high-risk triage categorisation; emotional instability, disturbed appetite, impulsivity, suicidal ideation and social isolation predicted in-patient admission.

Structured crisis lines/helplines can effectively deliver suicide risk assessment and intervention within national health systems. The NMHH model demonstrates the potential of integrated helpline services to identify high-risk individuals, facilitate timely intervention and support community-based management.

The increasing diversity of the UK’s population, along with significant inequalities in health outcomes among diverse cultural and ethnic groups, highlights the critical need for healthcare providers, including physiotherapists, to deliver culturally competent care. Research demonstrates that cultural competency (CC) in healthcare can enhance patient outcomes, improve treatment adherence, and address health inequalities. This quality improvement project aimed to evaluate the impact of a brief training intervention on perceived CC among physiotherapists engaging in cross-cultural, clinical encounters.

The design of this project was informed by principles of the Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) cycle. Musculoskeletal physiotherapists voluntarily participated in this educational intervention by completing a CC e-learning course developed by Health Education England. A retrospective evaluation method was used, where participants rated their awareness, knowledge, and skills in providing care to diverse patient groups after completing the training as compared to before.

The pre-and post-training responses assessed three constructs of CC: awareness, knowledge, and skills. Significant increases were observed in the mean scores for each construct, as well as in the overall aggregate CC score, indicating measurable improvements following the training.

Improvement in CC is viable and achievable through targeted training. CC is a lifelong, dynamic process that requires ongoing education. Therefore, further PDSA cycles are recommended with more advanced educational sessions. Additionally, future projects should assess the impact of enhanced CC on patient outcomes and experiences. Cultural competency must encompass cultural issues beyond racial and ethnic differences.

Frontline workers report negative mental health impacts of being exposed to the risk of COVID-19, and of supporting people struggling with the effects of the virus. Uptake of psychological first-aid resources is inconsistent, and they may not meet the needs of frontline workers in under-resourced contexts. This study evaluates a culturally adapted basic psychosocial skills (BPS) training program that aimed to meet the needs of frontline workers in under-resourced settings.

A cross-sectional survey administered to frontline workers who completed the program between 2020 and 2022, investigated their perceived confidence, satisfaction, and skill development, as well as their views on relevance to context and accessibility of the program.

Out of the 1000 people who had undertaken the BPS program, 118 (11.8%) completed the survey. Participants reported high levels of satisfaction and improved confidence in, and knowledge of, psychosocial skills. Participants reported that the BPS program was culturally and contextually relevant, and some requested expansion of the program, including more interactivity, opportunities for anonymous participation, and adaption to other cultural contexts, including translation into languages other than English.

Findings indicate a need for free, online, and culturally adapted psychosocial skills training program that is designed with key stakeholders to ensure relevance to social and cultural contexts.

1. (1) To gain knowledge needed for working with clients with OCD across race, ethnicity and culture.

2. (2) To understand how race, ethnicity and culture affect the assessment and treatment of OCD.

3. (3) To increase awareness of critical skills needed to implement CBT effectively for OCD in ethnoracially diverse clients.

4. (4) To acknowledge potential barriers experienced by minoritized clients and assist in creating accessible spaces for services.

Irish Travellers are an indigenous ethnic minority population in Ireland, with poor life expectancy. This study aims to identify factors associated with reported discrimination and how this affects their experiences of accessing and quality of health services, including mental health.

The All Ireland Traveller Health Study was a cross-sectional census study in 2010. All Traveller families completed a survey questionnaire (n = 6540), and at random an adult selected from the family completed either a health status (health status study = 1547) or health services utilisation survey (HSU = 1576). Experience of discrimination (EOD) from the census was analysed in relation to HSU data on services used in the previous 12 months and reported experiences of access and quality of that health service. Census variables were analysed in relation to EOD and perceived discrimination (PD).

In the final models, EOD and PD were significantly associated with socio-demographic, socio-cultural and living conditions. The multivariate odds of reporting EOD ranged from OR 1.84 to 2.13 and were significant for those reporting worse opportunities in accessing health services, mental health (p = 0.001), hospitals (p < 0.001) and public health nurses (p < 0.001). The multivariate odds of reporting EOD ranged from OR 1.95 to 2.71 and remained significant for those who reported they had poorer experiences than others when using health services, quality of experience (OR 2.18, p =< 0.001), trust in providers (OR 1.95, p =< 0.001) and appropriate information (OR 2.71, p =< 0.001).

Travellers experience high levels of discrimination which negatively affects their engagement with health services. Culturally competent services need to be developed.

Our aims were to report an analysis of the concept of cultural competency and to explore how the cultural competency of the palliative care workforce impacts the holistic care of young people with palliative care needs from South Asian cultures.

Using keywords, we searched the online databases MEDLINE, CINAHL, ScienceDirect, and PubMed from January of 1990 through to December of 2016. Some 1543 articles were retrieved, and inclusion and exclusion criteria were applied. A total of 38 papers were included in the concept analysis. The data were analyzed using Coad's (2002) adapted framework based on Rodgers's (1989) evolutionary concept analysis, focusing on the attributes, antecedents, consequences, and related terms in relation to culturally competent care. A model case of culturally competent care was also constructed.

The literature provides evidence that the concept of culturally competent care is a complex one, which is often expressed ambiguously. In addition, there is a paucity of research that involves service users as experts in defining their own needs and assessing their experiences related to cultural care.

Cultural care should be integral to holistic patient care, irrespective of a person's race or ethnicity. There is an urgent need to involve young BAME patients with palliative care needs and their families in the development of a robust tool to assess cultural competency in clinical practice.

“Cultural Competency” is an increasingly important skill required by the humanitarian workforce. Reviews and evaluations of recent major international events criticize tiie lack of cultural competency skills among foreign aid workers. This paper reviews two frameworks in the international literature to propose a model for cultural competency education in the humanitarian workforce.

The framework for disaster health, developed by the World Association for Disaster and Emergency Medicine (WADEM) Education Committee, and the Australian National Health and Medical Research Councils (NHMCR) “Cultural Competency in Health: A Guide for Policy, Partnership and Preparation” (2006) were used as frameworks for this review. A meta-review of the literature was conducted to identify cultural considerations in disaster management.

A definition of cultural competence was adopted from a range of theoretical models. Both the WADEM model, which includes the “Socio political, cultural context”, and the NHMRC model, which describes four dimensions for actions (systemic, organizational, professional, and the individual), identify key principles. Using these principles informed by the literature review, a model is proposed to foster culturally competent behavior incorporating all four dimensions.

The model argues that “everyone” is responsible for culturally appropriate and responsive management. This review makes explicit the importance of cultural competency skills in the humanitarian workforce and provides a model, underpinned by contemporary frameworks, to address this challenge.