Improve Health Care Language Access

We offer a range of different types of services, including language access workshops for various audiences and assistance in the development of language access policies and procedures, for health care providers, researchers, and other stakeholders at a fee. These services address barriers to health care access that ASV has identified since the program was founded in 2020.

If you have questions or want to begin the process of contracting our services, please reach out to us at alcesuvoz@wichita.edu. Rates are calculated per-project based on estimated labor hours and other costs. 

Language Access Plan Development and Evaluation 

Language Accessibility Certification

Alce su Voz is sensitive to the fact that few health care providers have a concrete plan for ensuring access to care for speakers of languages other than English. Though the legal framework of health care access is constantly changing, U.S. federal law still requires health care providers to address the language needs of their patients in meaningful ways. This can be a complex requirement, however: access plans cannot be uniform because every region has a unique demographic profile, and providing the necessary access can be burdensome for institutions with insufficient funding and little background in the nuances of linguistic access issues.  

To address this problem, Alce su Voz now offers consultation and guidance on the development and assessment of language access plans. We can work together with your team to come up with a plan that reasonably addresses the language needs of the communities you serve without placing an undue burden on your institution. We can also evaluate any extant plans you have in place to help look for potential areas of improvement, and provide educational seminars on access plan implementation for staff. Upon completion of this process, we will issue your healthcare institution a Language Accessibility Certification announcing your collective commitment to ensuring access to health care for all. 

Multilingual Signage Design  

Effective Signage for Accessibility

One of the most important aspects of language access is the design of effective signage in languages other than English. Poorly translated signage is an all-too-common reality across the U.S., and in some cases, a complete lack of signage in other languages makes navigating the health care system significantly more difficult for any patient with a Non-English Language Preference (NELP). Like all other language barriers, this contributes to health disparities for speakers of languages other than English in the United States. 

Alce su Voz will work together with your team to create new signage and/or evaluate existing signage for accessibility. 

Interpreter Training 

Building a Cohort of Medical Interpreters

The lack of qualified, trained interpreters within healthcare institutions presents a significant barrier to healthcare access. In many cases, patients with a Non-English Language Preference (NELP) turn to family members (often their own children) as interpreters during medical visits. Additionally, health care providers often call on bilingual employees with other responsibilities to work as translators, distracting them from their primary tasks. The utilization of such “ad-hoc interpreters,” who largely lack formal training in medical interpretation, has been shown to contribute to health disparities for NELP patients. 

Alce su Voz has been offering formal 40-hour training courses for medical interpretation between Spanish and English as part of a federal grant, and we are now offering this service to healthcare institutions for a fee. This course constitutes official preparation for the exam required for certification by the Certification Commission for Healthcare Interpreters. We will work together with your team to plan a course tailored to the needs of your institution so that anyone who wants to become certified clearly understands the path toward becoming so, and has the preparation needed. 

Educational Seminars

Striving for a Healthier Future

The ASV team has developed significant expertise in a variety of topics relating language to health care. Our director and several team members are PhD researchers with years of experience in academia and applied language studies. The topics we have investigated are important for healthcare professionals and staff, but the demands of their jobs often leave little time for gaining a deeper understanding of the issues at play on their own. 

Alce su Voz can prepare an educational presentation that is tailored for your specific institution. Some of the topics we are prepared to teach are:  

  • The legal framework of language access in U.S. health care 
  • Providing culturally and linguistically appropriate services to Non-English Language Preference (NELP) patients  
  • The role of community health workers  

However, we are also excited to work with you to identify any areas where our expertise coincides with the needs of your institution and community of patients. 

Facilitation of Research and Outreach

Through years of conducting research and outreach activities with groups across Kansas, ASV has gained significant insight and expertise on the challenges of organizing such events. If you represent a group looking to conduct similar activities in Kansas, but are unsure of where to start, ASV can help.  

If you have a program (for example, an informational workshop) planned and are merely in need of organizational help, ASV can do the following:  

  • Recruit local stakeholders to participate  
  • Secure a location for a public event 
  • Organize food/refreshments 
  • Advertise for the event (online, radio, newspaper, and physical media, e.g., flyers) 
  • Attend in-person to help facilitate/oversee the successful execution of the event 
  • Document the event through audio and/or visual recording 

ASV can also plan and implement the following events/activities for you: 

Public listening sessions:

One of the most effective ways to identify language barriers to the provision of health care is to actively listen to the patients who face such barriers. Alce su Voz has hosted listening sessions across Kansas with speakers of Spanish and Indigenous languages of Latin America to great success. In doing so, we have helped local healthcare providers address language barriers to healthcare access in ways that are tailored to their specific communities.  

Informational workshops:

Low health literacy also contributes to health disparities for all patients, especially patients with a Non-English Language Preference. ASV can work together with your organization to plan and conduct an informational session for your community of patients on a topic relevant to their health care and wellbeing.