Member Resource Library
Being a culturally competent health care provider is not limited to understanding variances in gender identity, race or ethnicity – ATs must also be aware of their patient’s religious values. This type of education and awareness can come from personal experience and/or a proactive effort to increase personal awareness of religious traditions that may vary from the one’s own.
Athletic training is a service occupation and those who enter into it should have the desire to serve others. A fundamental responsibility and purpose of any human service occupation is to meet the needs of all people and improve individuals’ quality of life. Inherent in these purposes is the attention and sensitivity to affirming people’s cultural diversity, including sexual orientation and gender identity. Regardless of your setting or who you work with, the culture of sexual orientation and gender identity may be part of the mix
"Microaggressions," November 2020 NATA News article (pdf) that reviews how awareness of and minimizing microaggressions in athletic training clinical practice is a powerful part of being a culturally competent health care provider.
November 2020 NATA News (pdf) that features EDAC Enhancement Grant recipients as they discuss the role ATs play in addressing health care needs of native populations.
November 2020 NATA News (pdf) that discusses why it’s imperative ATs are culturally competent.
NATA Ethnic Diversity Advisory Committee Chair Kysha Harriell, PhD, LAT, ATC, wrote an article about why words matter when working with patients who have a disability. In continuation of the topic, Kevin Conley, PhD, ATC, spoke with NATA about his firsthand experience treating patients with disabilities.
NATA Ethnic Diversity Advisory Committee District Four Rep. Samar Long, MSEd, AT, ATC, interviewed Marisha Little, LAT, ATC, and Chris Dake, EdD, LAT, ATC, with the University of West Florida, about their efforts to increase awareness of the athletic training profession on the Navajo Reservation. The duo received two EDAC Diversity Enhancement Grants to support their projects, “Bridging the Cultural Gap Among Navajo High School Students and the Athletic Training Profession” and “Advancing Athletic Training Education on the Navajo Reservation.”
ATs can provide a safe space for patients who find themselves being targeted and/or bullied by others.
This NATA Now article explores the often hostile athletic environment toward LGBTQ+ people.
June 2020 NATA News article on importance of visibility, technology considerations and pronoun use to the LGBTQ+ patient population.
NATA Now article that outlines the Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network's (GLSEN) model of high school athletics policy for ATs who are looking to develop policies for their own workplace.
NATA Now article on caring for a transgender patient.
Read tthe Summer 2020 Sports Medicine Legal Digest where incoming chair of NATA's LGBTQ+ Advisory Committee Rebecca Lopez, PhD, ATC, CSCS, answers questions posed by Sports Medicine Legal Digest.