Quality, Access, And Affordability Of Health Care
Facilitators and Barriers to System-Level Change: Providing Language Services in California Public Hospitals
HPRP researchers are teaming with investigators from the Health Research and Educational Trust (HRET) on a project sponsored by The California Endowment (TCE) to design and conduct an evaluation of a TCE-funded initiative to promote language access for Californians with Limited English Proficiency (LEP). The initiative is directed by the California Health Care Safety Net Institute (SNI), an affiliate of the California Association of Public Hospitals (CAPH). The $200,000 evaluation study is examining the strategies and activities (e.g., interpreter services, multilingual signage, use of remote translation technology) undertaken by 12 public hospitals to overcome language barriers for LEP Californians, and will identify major factors that either facilitate or impede hospital engagement in such activities. A key contribution of the HPRP team is the development of a scorable instrument for measuring and assessing a hospital’s readiness to engage in language service provision. The principal investigator for the evaluation is Romana Hasnain-Wynia of Northwestern University and the project manager is Julie Yonek of HRET. Alan B. Cohen leads the HPRP team, which includes Joseph D. Restuccia and Jennifer E. Drake. The project is slated to conclude in late 2008.
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