The aim of this paper is to describe various approaches that have been taken or could be taken to avoid the linguistic incompatibility that impedes full and equal access to health care on the part of health care providers and their patients when they do not speak the same language. | MODELS FOR THE PROVISION OF LANGUAGE ACCESS IN HEALTH CARE SETTINGS by Bruce Downing, ., and Cynthia E. Roat, MPH The National Council on Interpreting in Health Care This paper was produced under a contract between Hablamos Juntos and the National Council on Interpreting in Health Care (NCIHC). . The National Council on Interpreting in Health Care Acknowledgements This paper, Models for the Provision of Language Access in Health Care Settings, was written by Bruce Downing, PhD and Cynthia E. Roat, MPH with input from some members of the NCIHC Board. It was reviewed and approved by the Board of Directors in January 2002. NCIHC Board of Directors Shiva Bidar-Sielaff, ., co-chair of the Board Cynthia E. Roat, ., co-chair of the Board Cornelia Brown, ., Chair of the Advisory Committee Elaine Quinn, ., ., , ., Treasurer Wilma Alvarado-Little, ., Secretary Karin Ruschke, ., co-chair: Standards, Training and Certification Committee Linda Haffner, Interpreter/Translator, co-chair: Standards, Training and Certification Committee Charles C. (Mike) Anderson, ., co-chair: Research and Policy Committee Elizabeth Jacobs, ., co-chair: Research and Policy Committee Maria Michalczyk, ., ., co-chair: Organizational Development Committee Joy Connell, co-chair: Organizational Development Committee Julie Burns, ., co-chair: Membership and Outreach Committee Models for the Provision of Language Access in Health Care Settings • March 2002 2 INTRODUCTION Scope and Purpose The aim of this paper is to describe various approaches that have been taken or could be taken to avoid the linguistic incompatibility that impedes full and equal access to health care on the part of health care providers and their patients when they do not speak the same , 2, 3, 4, 5 For present purposes, we will assume that the common language of health care delivery is English, and that the language of the non-English-speaking .
