Cultural Competency

Multilingual Swine Flu Resources Available

Vermont Department of Health Multilingual Swine Flu Resources

The Vermont Department of Health is making efforts to reach out to all Vermonters with helpful information about swine flu. For up to date information on swine flu in Vermont, please visit healthvermont.gov/panflu/SwineFlu.aspx.

For people who do not speak English of who have limited English skills, the Vermont Department of Health website lists reliable links (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and World Health Organization) to information in other languages.

Below please find links to information about swine flu prevention and care in Spanish, French, Chinese, Russian, Arabic, Somali, Swahili and Vietnamese. The Vermont Department of Health is working to provide additional resources in more languages and will post them to their site at healthvermont.gov/panflu/multilingualresources.aspx as they become available.

Spanish

www.who.int/csr/disease/swineflu/es/index.html

www.cdc.gov/germstopper/es/home_work_school.htm

www.cdc.gov/swineflu/espanol/influenza-porcina-usted.htm

French

www.who.int/csr/don/2009_04_27/fr/index.html

Chinese

www.who.int/csr/disease/swineful/zh/index.html

www.cdc.gov/germstopper/chinese/pdf/home_work_school.pdf

Russian

www.who.int/csr/disease/swineflu/ru/index.html

Arabic

www.who.int/csr/disease/swineflu/ar/index.html

Somali

VTH1N1-General_info_Somali.pdf

Swahili

VTH1N1-General_info_Swahili.pdf

Vietnamese

H1N1_General-Vietnamese.pdf

Cultural Competency for Health Care Providers Manual Available Online!

Cultural Competency for Health Care Providers manual... (.pdf file)

Medical students from the Freeman Medical Scholars Program are updating the manual now. If you have a resource for listing in the 2009 edition, contact Karin Hammer-Williamson, Education Resource Coordinator, Champlain Valley AHEC at 802-527-1474, khammer@cvahec.org. Next edition release: November 2009.

Resources for Practices

VT Interpreter Task Force Trainings (Champlain Valley region; periodically offered), “How to Work Effectively With Limited English Proficiency Persons and Interpreters”. Contact: Tracey Tsugawa, Vermont Human Rights Commmission, 800-416-2010, x23.

Vermont Medical Society “Interpreter Issues and Resources” www.vtmd.org – click on Education, then on Interpreter Services.

Bridging the Gap: Medical Interpreter Training

July 19 - August 9, 2010

O'Brien Community Center in Winooski

According to the Vermont Department of Labor, the interpretation and translation occupations have the second highest growth rate in the greater Burlington area at 4.2% through 2016. The VT Interpreter Task Force, a group of advocates dedicated to improving the quality and availability of skilled interpreters, recently assessed Champlain Valley needs related to interpretation generally and medical interpretation specifically. The group found that employers have difficulty providing enough specialized training to prepare general interpreters and translators for the technical, social and ethical demands of health care setting work. Cultures hold different views of illness, health and care, so medical interpretation usually involves more than matching words and phrases between languages. As a result, practitioners report that they must often schedule medical appointments around the availability of an appropriate interpreter.

To help develop the workforce, Champlain Valley Area Health Education Center (AHEC) purchased rights to provide Bridging the Gap medical interpreter training to employees and contractors of the Association of Africans Living in Vermont, Community Health Center of Burlington, Fletcher Allen Health Care, Vermont Refugee Resettlement Program, and local migrant farm worker partnerships. Champlain Valley AHEC and Fletcher Allen Health Care sent experienced local interpreter Guylaine Daoust to Seattle to become a certified Bridging the Gap trainer last summer. Jacqueline Rose of Vermont Refugee Resettlement Program also holds the credential.

Champlain Valley AHEC will coordinate available resources with partner agencies and raise additional funds (through some "tuition" charges) to provide multiple 40-hour training sessions through August 2010. Participants will learn how to manage roles, ethics and the flow of a session/appointment; terminology; culturally specific information; communication skills; the professional role; and resources to continue learning after the series. Sessions will be held in the greater Burlington area; one will be planned for winter 2010 in partnership with Addison County Migrant Farm Worker Coalition. For information, contact Karin Hammer-Williamson, Education Resource Coordinator, Champlain Valley AHEC at 802-527-1474, khammer@cvahec.org.

Schedule for July 19 - August 9, 2010 training.