Physicians and health care providers have multiple strategies available to them to ensure linguistically and culturally appropriate care through language through language services and cultural competence training. Language services can be provided through a variety of forms such as in-person, telephone or videoconference interpretation. There are many benefits of providing linguistically and culturally competent care, including: increased patient satisfaction, potential for decreased costs (through fewer readmissions and decreases in length of time for treatment in emergency rooms), and protects against miscommunication by protecting patients from medical errors and hospitals from lawsuits.
Consortium Curricula | Online Curricula |Key Laws, Guidelines and Standards
Consortium Curricula
Evaluating Effective Use of Interpreters in OSCE Setting: Checklists
Development and validation of two checklist items focusing on effective interpreter use: Faculty Observation Rating Scale (FORS) and the Interpreter Impact Rating Scale (IIRS). The checklists have been cross-validated on the Patient-Physician Interaction scale (PPI). We are currently validating the Interpreter Scale (IS) to be used by interpreters in educational and clinical settings.
Future studies will include: multi-site, multi-language, multi-academic year students; as well as usability of scales in general clinical settings.
Lie D, Boker J, Bereknyei S, Ahearn S, Fesko C, Lenahan P. Validating Measures of Third Year Medical Students' Use of Interpreters by Standardized Patients and Faculty Observers. Journal of General Internal Medicine 2007 Nov:22 (s)2. Available at: Journal of General Internal Medicine
For more information, please contact:
Desiree Lie, MD, MSED
Standardized Patient-Interpreter Cases
- Training Guide for Standardized Patient Instructors to Teach Medical Students Culturally Competent Tobacco Cessation Counseling. MedEdPORTAL link This module was supported by a grant from the National Cancer Institute to develop, implement, and evaluate a culturally-competent Web-based curriculum on tobacco cessation for undergraduate medical students (R25CA096562, PI: J. Spangler, MD MPH). The module was designed to serve as a toolkit for health care educators interested in training lay persons to serve as tobacco-using standardized patient instructors (SPIs).
Crandall S, Foley K, Marion G, Walker K, Kronner D, Vaden K, Spangler J. Training Guide for Standardized Patient Instructors to Teach Medical Students Culturally Competent Tobacco Cessation Counseling. MedEdPORTAL; 2008. Available from MedEdPORTAL
For more information, please contact:
Sonia Crandall, PhD, MS
Medical Spanish Working Group: Preliminary Objectives
- Document the extent of medical Spanish training in US medical schools
- Establish Consortium resource site for methods of medical Spanish training and how credit is given
- Investigate links between medical Spanish training, student satisfaction with health care delivery skills, and documented patient care
- Establish guidelines for best practices for medical Spanish training in US medical schools
For more information, please contact:
Sonia Crandall, PhD, MS
Lynn Bickley, MD
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Online Curricula
Practicing Spanish
Medical Spanish for healthcare providers. In addition to a "daily dialogue" consisting of a few statements from the patient, the patient's family, and healthcare providers, the website has links to cultural topics, geography, anatomy and FAQs.
AMA Strategies to Improve Communication in Latino/Hispanic Patients
This CME Program covers skills needed to work effectively with a low-literate Spanish-speaking population. These skills are readily transferable to all patient interactions; focus on clarity, cultural humility and message confirmation are important to patient care.
HRSA Health Literacy On-Line Training
Unified Health Communication 101: Addressing Health Literacy, Cultural Competency, and Limited English Proficiency is a free on-line learning experience that will help you
- improve your patient communication skills
- increase your awareness and knowledge of the three main factors that affect your communication with patients: health literacy, cultural competency and low English proficiency
- implement patient-centered communication practices that demonstrate cultural competency and appropriately address patients with limited health literacy and low English proficiency
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Key Laws, Guidelines and Standards
Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964
Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 “No person in the United States shall, on the ground of race, color, or national origin, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.”
Limited-English Proficiency Guidance The number or proportion of LEP persons eligible to be served or likely to be encountered by the program or grantee. The frequency with which LEP individuals come in contact with the program, activity or service. The nature and importance of the recipient’s program, activity, or service. The resources available to the grantee/recipient and costs.
Standards for Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services (CLAS)
The CLAS standards are issued by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Minority Health. The 14 CLAS standards can be organized into three main themes: culturally competent care, language access services and organizational support for cultural competence. Four of the 14 standards are based on Title VI.
Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) Standards
The new standard (as of 2006) requires JCAHO-accredited hospitals to document patients’ language and communication needs. The report, funded by the California Endowment, Hospitals, Language, and Culture: A Snapshot of the Nation describes a three-year study analyzing 60 hospitals across the country in their efforts to offer culturally competent care. The report makes recommendations to hospitals and policymakers and shares best practices for health care for diverse populations.
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