Addressing the Language Access Barrier When Serving Refugee Patients

March 28, 2012

Presenter:

Cindy Roat, M.P.H.
National Council on Interpreting in Health Care

Details: This webinar is co-sponsored with the National Council on Interpreting in Health Care (NCIHC). We will focus on the delivery issues that health care administrators face in providing language access for recently arrived refugees. We will first look at a description of the “perfect” language access program and then the “reality” of finding, screening, training, and qualifying interpreters in languages of lesser diffusion (LLDs). We will discuss other aspects of language access including the challenges of providing vital documents in LLDs, telephone access, and wayfinding. We will also explore the use of models other than interpreters to support linguistic access for recently arrived refugees.

Webinar Resources

  • Slides – PDF [1,924 KB]
  • Transcript – PDF [100 KB]
  • Audience Question & Answers – PDF [111 KB]

Additional Resources

National Council on Interpreting in Health Care

Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 – Implications for persons who are Limited English Proficient

The Cross Cultural Health Care Program

International Medical Interpreters Association

Directory of Ethnic Medical Associations

Educational Institutions

Association of Departments of Foreign Languages

Center for Advanced Research on Language Acquisition – Less Commonly Taught Languages Project

National Council of Less Commonly Taught Languages

Minority Languages and Cultures of Latin America Project

African Language Teachers Association

South Asian Language Teachers Association