A Description of the Purnell Model for Cultural Competence

Abstract

To meet the needs of a multicultural society, health care in the new millennium stresses teamwork in providing culturally sensitive and competent care to improve client outcomes. Publications addressing the future predict an increasingly diverse workforce. Accordingly, care providers can benefit from a conceptual model of cultural competence that can be used by all health disciplines in all practice settings. The Purnell Model for Cultural Competence, developed in 1995, is applicable to all health care providers. This article (a) describes the development of the model; (b) provides a description of the model; (c) lists the major assumptions on which the model is based; (d) describes the model’s use in practice, education, administration, and research across disciplines; and (e) includes a brief evaluation of the model. Important cultural domains missing from other transcultural and cross-cultural models, which are found in the Purnell Model, are biocultural ecology and workforce issues.