Upcoming events...

Job Opening at CCHCP!
Tuesday, August 31, 2010  -  Thursday, September 30, 2010
The Cross Cultural Health Care Program (CCHCP) is seeking a Community Outreach and Communications Coordinator.
Seattle, WA

2010 IMIA International Conference on Medical Interpreting
Friday, September 3, 2010  -  Sunday, September 5, 2010
Boston, MA

National Conference on Quality Health Care for Culturally Diverse Populations
Monday, October 18, 2010  -  Thursday, October 21, 2010
Baltimore, Maryland

Second Annual Trainers' Symposium
Friday, June 10, 2011
9:00 am - 5:30 pm
Las Vegas, NV
to be announced

In the news...

CCHCP presents at the WSSDVS Annual Conference
On June 16, 2010 Nimisha Ghosh Roy provided a two hour training, “Preparing a Culturally Competent Volunteer Corp” at the annual conference of the Washington State Society of Directors of Volunteer Services. Held in Ellensburg, WA, this conference was attended by directors of volunteer services from hospitals across the state of Washington.
CCHCP, 07/26/2010

CCHCP provides the opening keynote at the WithinReach Cultural Competency Retreat
On July 13, 2010 Nimisha Ghosh Roy presented the opening keynote presentation entitled “The Road Map to Cultural Competency: Navigating the Cultural Competency Journey” at the WithinReach Cultural Competency Retreat. The retreat was held at the Fremont Baptist Church in Seattle, WA and was attended by approximately 25 staff members.
CCHCP, 07/26/2010

Environmental Justice Trainings Completed
Rose Long completed 6 trainings on environmental justice for all 70 staff members of the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency (PSCAA) in January, 2010. These trainings were the first of two phases of a 6-month project driven by the Agency's ten-year strategic plan. The project strengthens Puget Sound Clean Air Agency's underlying goal of equal access by environmental justice impacted communities through equal representation and meaningful participation. The project with CCHCP was initiated by then PSCAA Executive Director, Dennis McClaren, who has been appointed by President Obama as Regional Director for Region X of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in early February. Interim Director James Nolan is continuing the implementation of phase 2 of this project which is ongoing.
rml, 04/23/2010

CCHCP at the International Medical Interpreter Association (IMIA) Conference
Ira SenGupta and Rose Long presented at the recently concluded 2009 Annual Conference of the International Medical Interpreters Association (IMIA) on Sunday, Oct 11 in Boston, MA. Ms. SenGupta spoke on Language Access' Role in Recruitment and Retention in Cancer Clinical Trials. Rose Long presented on Language Access and its Role in Environmental Justice.
, 10/12/2009

2009 Symposium of the National Association of Social Workers, Iowa Chapter
Ira SenGupta presented the keynote speech -From Cultural Bump to Cultural Congruence: Enhancing Cultural Competence in Health and Human Services- at the recently concluded 2009 Symposium of the National Association of Social Workers, Iowa Chapter in Des Moines. The theme of the annual symposium was -Growth, Change, and Competency in a Culturally Diverse World. About 300 social workers attended the meeting ON April 17, 2009 ably coordinated by Kelli Soyer, Executive Director of NASW, Iowa Chapter.
CCHCP, 06/01/2009

CCHCP Presented at National WIC Association's 26th Annual Conference
Ira SenGupta, Executive Director, recently presented on Cultural Competency and Working Effectively with Interpreters at the 26th Annual Conference of the National WIC Association in Nashville, Tennessee. A rich diversity of people access WIC (Women, Infant and Children) services bringing with them worldviews and approaches to diet and nutrition, pregnancy, breastfeeding, alcohol and drug use, family planning, and healthcare that may be different from the WIC staff who serve them. More than 900 WIC staff and administrators attended the conference on May 24 to 27 at the Gaylord Opryland Hotel in Nashville.
CCHCP, 06/17/2009

Bridging the Gap Training at the Alaska Immigration Justice Project
On March 9 to 13, 2009, Rose Long, Director of the Bridging the Gap (BTG) Interpreter Training Program at CCHCP, presented the week-long training to 23 participants. The class was a very diverse group, languages represented were Laotian, Yup'ik, Spanish, Tagalog, Arabic, Korean, Nuer, Russian, Hmong, Vietnamese, Bosnian-Serbian-Croatian, Portuguese, and Mandarin. In 2007, the Municipality of Anchorage awarded the Mayor's Community & Non-profit Organization Diversity Award to AIJP. AIJP is dedicated to protecting the human rights of all Alaskans by providing comprehensive immigration legal services and language interpreter services throughout Alaska.
CCHCP, 05/28/2009

Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services (CLAS)

The Office of Minority Health, a division of the Dept. of Health and Human Services, formally adopted the CLAS standards in  March 2001. These standards are primarily directed at health care organizations; however, individual providers are also encouraged to use the standards to make their practices more culturally and linguistically accessible. The principles and activities of culturally and linguistically appropriate services should be integrated throughout an organization and undertaken in partnership with the communities being served.

The 14 standards are organized by themes:

  • Culturally Competent Care (Standards 1-3)
  • Language Access Services (Standards 4-7)
  • Organizational Supports for Cultural Competence (Standards 8-14).

Within this framework, there are three types of standards of varying stringency -- mandates, guidelines, and recommendations as follows:

  1. CLAS mandates are current Federal requirements for all recipients of Federal funds (Standards 4, 5, 6, and 7).
  2. CLAS guidelines are activities recommended by OMH for adoption as mandates by Federal, State, and national accrediting agencies (Standards 1, 2, 3, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, and 13).
  3. CLAS recommendations are suggested by OMH for voluntary adoption by health care organizations (Standard 14).

List of 14 standards of CLAS - Office of Minority Health

The Final Report on CLAS - Office of Minority Health

Toolkits for collecting race and ethnicity - Health Research and Educational Trust

Strategies for addressing CLAS adherence - Underserved Quality Improvement Organization Support Center


The Joint Commission

The Joint Commission also recognizes the importance of culturally competent care.  Since 2004, the Joint Commission (formerly known as JCAHO) has been studying how hospitals face and address challenges of providing health care to diverse populations, with the purpose to better understand what the current state of practice is and develop recommendations.

Hospitals, Language and Culture Project (2002) - The Joint Commission

The Joint Commission Report: National Strategies Needed to Better Serve Increasingly Diverse Patient Population in American Hospitals (3/29/07)

    -October 2007 update

Joint Commission Literature Review Bibliography (2004)

Listservs:

CLAS-talk

CLAS-talk is the email discussion group sponsored by Resources for Cross Cultural Health Care and the DiversityRx website (www.diversityRx.org). Participants can raise issues, ask questions, share information and resources and network with each other around topics related to the design, delivery and evaluation of culturally and linguistically appropriate services (CLAS) in health care. You will also receive updates on new publications, policies and events related to CLAS.

Journals:

  • Journal of Transcultural Nursing (Sage)
  • Transcultural Psychiatry (Sage)
  • Ethos (Berkeley)
    Research in psychological anthropology and cross-cultural psychology.
  • Journal of Multicultural Nursing and Health  (Riley)
  • Cross Cultural Connection (Battaglia)
  • Medical Anthropology (Taylor & Francis)
  • Shaman's Drum (Cross Cultural Shamanism Network)

Other Resources:

Archived web seminars available at Disparities Solution Center, Massachusetts General Hospital



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