Final answer:
To be sensitive to ethnicity, a health services coordinator should use culturally tailored communication and data collection tools, ensure accessible community spaces, and use patient-preferred language. Methods like community-based participatory research are critical for creating culturally appropriate health promotion materials and ensuring inclusivity in health outcomes.
Step-by-step explanation:
One key action that assists a health services coordinator in being sensitive to ethnicity when working with a patient is the use of culturally tailored communication and data collection tools. This approach is supported by research suggesting that incorporating a broad range of methodological approaches to address health disparities—including the use of mixed-method approaches and community-based participatory action research—can lead to improved health outcomes. To be culturally sensitive, healthcare professionals should pick community spaces that are accessible to all and use the patient's preferred language. Additionally, educating themselves about the potential for language bias and the impact of cultural values on health behaviors is essential for a health services coordinator.
Engaging with patients using community-based participatory research methods, which involve the community in the research process to ensure that the data collection tools and health promotion materials are culturally appropriate, is also crucial. In doing so, health professionals can better communicate and understand their patients' unique health perceptions and behaviors related to their ethnicity and cultural context.
Ultimately, being sensitive to ethnicity involves recognizing the cultural specificity of each patient's background and ensuring that health education, disease prevention strategies, and research participation are tailored to increase diversity and inclusion, leading to a decrease in existing health inequities.