Zuniga Genny Carrillo, Seol Yoon-Ho, Dadig Bonnie, Guion W Kent, Rice Vivian
School of Rural Public Health, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USA.
Health Care Manag (Frederick). 2013 Apr-Jun;32(2):167-72. doi: 10.1097/HCM.0b013e31828ef655.
In 2001, 14 national standards on Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services (CLAS) in health care were issued by the US Department of Health and Human Services Office of Minority Health to guide outcomes specific to disparities affecting patients with limited English proficiency. Additionally, demographic changes are rapidly occurring throughout the United States leading to more culturally and racially diverse communities, which have increased language barriers in the health care environment. This nonrandomized, cross-sectional study assessed changes and attitudes and applications of CLAS in an academic health care setting over a 5-year period (2006 to 2011). Results indicated that, in 2006, 72.6% participants reported they were "not at all familiar with CLAS" in comparison with 28.8% in 2011. In 2006, 16.5% participants strongly agreed to the question, "I know how to work with medical interpreters" compared with 24.9% in 2011. The same trend is seen with the question, "I use medical interpreters when I have a Spanish-speaking patient," in 2006, 25.5% strongly agreed in comparison with 35.4% in 2011. This study suggests that significant improvements occurred in the use of medical interpreters and understanding of CLAS as a result of educational activities implemented from 2006 to 2011.
2001年，美国卫生与公众服务部少数族裔健康办公室发布了14项关于医疗保健中文化和语言适当服务（CLAS）的国家标准，以指导针对影响英语水平有限患者的差异的具体结果。此外，美国各地的人口结构正在迅速变化，导致社区的文化和种族更加多样化，这增加了医疗保健环境中的语言障碍。这项非随机横断面研究评估了5年期间（2006年至2011年）学术医疗保健环境中CLAS的变化、态度和应用情况。结果表明，2006年，72.6%的参与者表示他们“对CLAS一点也不熟悉”，而2011年这一比例为28.8%。2006年，16.5%的参与者强烈同意“我知道如何与医学口译员合作”这一问题，而2011年这一比例为24.9%。对于“当我有说西班牙语的患者时，我会使用医学口译员”这一问题，也出现了同样的趋势，2006年，25.5%的参与者强烈同意，而2011年这一比例为35.4%。这项研究表明，由于2006年至2011年开展的教育活动，医学口译员的使用和对CLAS的理解有了显著改善。
