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The Third National
Conference on |
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October
2 - 4, 2002, Chicago, IL |
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Preconference | Wed., October 2nd | Th., October 3rd | Fr., October 4th | | ||||||||||
Session A-2: Using the CLAS Standards to stimulate reform in regional health systemsA CLAS of Our Own: Promoting Systems Change as recommended in the National Standards for Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services in Health CareIn late 2001 Vista Community Clinic began its Cultural Awareness Program funded through the Federal Office of Minority Health. The program has several aims: 1) to educate health care organizations in San Diego County about the CLAS standards; 2) to develop a resource guide on how to assess, create and maintain a culturally and linguistically competent organization; 3) to aid health care organizations in implementing systems change in the areas of cultural and linguistic appropriate services as described in the National CLAS standards, 4) to develop a website and; 5) to train health care support staff, dentists, and vocational health care students on the importance of cultural and linguistic awareness in health care. Community residents are also provided an educational session that educates them on access and availability of primary care sites, emergency care, the importance of health prevention and maintaining health insurance, and their rights and responsibilities as patients navigating the US health care system. The program in all its components has stressed the need for systems change at all levels of the health care organization. The workshop will review the strategies and methods used in fulfilling the program’s objectives. Following a structure, process & outcome format, the following questions will be addressed: to what extent are organizations aware of the cultural and linguistic situation; what is being done to provide and/or increase staff awareness; what resources and training are available to staff; and what are the things that the organization should be measuring? Educating the administrators and business managers is a common challenge we are facing. There is little concrete data to support the cost of implementing organizational wide systems change to become culturally and linguistically competent. Although there is plenty of anecdotal evidence demonstrating the lack of cultural and linguistic competence, individuals and organizations tend to self evaluate as already being competent in both areas and thereby are not in need of improvement. Attempting to address the challenges:
Effective evaluation tools are another challenge for the program. Currently, both quantitative and qualitative measurement tools such as post-tests, follow-up telephone surveys, focus group questionnaires have been developed and pilot tested in the last nine months. We will also be measuring the amount of hits on our website, as well as what materials are downloaded and viewed. We are working towards a more objective thinking method that will allow the development of better tracking, assessment, and measurement tools. The project activities implemented are being tracked, monitored and documented. Impact measures will primarily be evidenced through systems change which will occur within health care organizations that adopt protocol specific to linguistic and cultural competency. In those organizations that implement new policies we will work towards identifying and tracking measures to demonstrate the effectiveness of the new protocols in changing baseline health data over time, change the utilization of services over time, and/or change provider/client satisfaction. Participants in the workshop leave with an understanding of effective strategies in aiding health care organizations in identifying the cultural and linguistic changes needed in making their organization more competent. Carola E. Green is a Federal Court and California State Court & Medical certified English/Spanish interpreter/translator with over 10 years of professional interpreting experience and over 15 years teaching/training experience certified through the University of California, San Diego. Carola is currently coordinating Vista Community Clinic’s Cultural Awareness Program funded by the Office of Minority Health, and responsible for the management of program activities. As Team Leader at Cedars Sinai Medical Center, Interpreter Services Department in Los Angeles, CA, she supervised the provision of in-house support to Limited English Proficient patients, in over 30 languages using staff/roster interpreters and 140 languages using outside resources. She serves on the Standards, Training, & Certification Committee for the National Council for Interpretation in Health Care, the Standards & Certification Committee for the California Healthcare Interpreters Association, is a founding member and former CHIA Board Vice-President, and currently an Adjunct Professor at SouthWestern College.
Konane M. Martinez is a doctoral candidate in anthropology at the University of California Riverside. Konane has done binational dissertation research on health and health care utilization by migrant communities from Mexico. She is currently a visiting fellow at the Center for US-Mexican Studies and the Center for Comparative Immigration Studies at the University of California, San Diego.
From Theory to Practice: The Challenges of Integrating and Strengthening Cultural and Linguistic Care into a Large Health SystemBackground: Los Angeles County is larger in population than 42 states and 172 countries. With a population of 9.9 million (2000 census), it is the most diverse county in the most diverse state. The Department of Health Services (DHS) is the largest County Department and the second largest health system in the nation. DHS serves as the major open door provider for more than 2.5 million uninsured. DHS provides the majority of all uncompensated inpatient care in the County; nearly half of all trauma care through 3 of its hospitals; and most likely, the majority of all uncompensated outpatient care. The DHS Office of Diversity Programs (ODP) was established at the request of the Board of Supervisors to put into operation the DHS’ Diversity Strategic Plan. The Diversity Mission and Vision were developed in July 1997. These developments were instrumental in department-wide discussions about issues of diversity and cultural and linguistic competency. In early 1999, the former Director of DHS appointed a Cultural and Linguistic Work Group comprised of departmental senior staff, legal advocates from outside collaborative agencies, cultural and linguistic specialists, and representatives from community-based clinics to develop competency standards for the DHS. This is an ongoing process. Challenges / issues to be addressed: This workshop will address the following:
Desired outcomes of the workshop:
Miya Iwataki’s career has centered on government policy and public/community advocacy. She is currently Director, Office of Diversity Programs at LA County Dept. of Health Services the 2nd largest health system in the US Currently, she is providing leadership for the development and implementation of Cultural & Linguistic Standards. Statewide, she is an Executive Board member of the CA Pan Ethnic Health Network; on the Steering Committee of the Task Force on Multicultural Health of CA Dept. of Health Services; the CA Assembly Speaker appointee to the Task Force on Culturally Competent Physicians and Dentists. As Legislative Chair of the National Coalition for Redress/Reparations (NCRR), Miya Iwataki helped coordinate a 141-person grassroots delegation to Washington, D.C. making 101 Congressional visits to successfully win passage of the Civil Liberties Act of 1989 which won $20,000 in reparations and a Presidential apology to the Americans of Japanese ancestry imprisoned in camp during WWII. In 1992, she was the US presenter at the International Conference on Wartime Reparations in Osaka, Japan; and in 1985, was selected as one of 37 women sponsored by the United Nations NGO Office to the UN Decade for Women Convention in Nairobi, Kenya. Miya Iwataki has a strong media background, hosting and producing a weekly program on KPFK 90.7 FM Pacifica Radio for 12 years; she chaired the Advisory Board for the local PBS TV station; and was Press Director for Congressman Mervyn Dymally.
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| As with the rest of Diversity Rx, this section
is a work in progress and we welcome information on other efforts, programs,
and reports that will expand upon the information offered here. Please
let us know if you have other examples to include here. |
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essentials | models and practices | policy | legal issues
| networking | table
of contents | contact us
| who we are |
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Diversity Rx is sponsored by: |
 The National Conference of State Legislatures |
 Resources for Cross Cultural Health Care |
 Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation |
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