LOCUS Project: Enhancing Access to Health Care through Community Supported Education for Bilingual Medical Personnel

Project: Enhancing Access to Health Care through Community Supported Education for Bilingual Medical Personnel
Fellow: Heidi Kloster
Partner Agency: Dept. of Family Medicine
Mentor: Dr. Patricia Tellez-Giron
Team Members: Lake Locken (DFM Project Coordinator)

Fellow Bio:

Project Description:

With the growth of the Latino population in the Madison area, a need has been noted for assessment of Spanish-speaking patients perception of the health care they're receiving. The primary obstacle often faced by this patient population is the perceived lack of qualified bilingual health care personnel providing primary care in this area. We have created a multi-faceted approach to needs assessment via interviews of numerous health care organizations throughout Dane County regarding the services they provide in Spanish; as well as interviews of patients themselves about the availability of quality bilingual health care. The ultimate goal of this project will be the creation of a mechanism (mentoring program) to bring more bilingual persons into the health care workforce via targeted educational scholarships. The goal of this portion of the project is to begin to increase access to health care services for the Latino community. *See AHEC proposal prepared by Patricia Tellez-Giron, MD and Jonathan Temte, MD/PhD for complete outline and goals of project.

Project Goals:

Needs assessment/analysis of status of bilingual health care services in Dane County and identification of areas of need for increased services.

Creation of mentoring program to bring more bilingual persons into the health care workforce via targeted educational scholarships.

Personal Goals:
Currently, my primary goal is to present the results of the completed first arm of the project (needs assessment) at the fall meeting of the WAFP in Wisconsin Dells in October. Our project has been accepted for poster presentation. In order to complete this project I'll need to carry out a literature search of similar projects, as well as further analyze the meaning of our data and how they may be useful in the future. Additionally, as I enter my third year rotation and the project progresses, we have found that the second phase of the project (scholarship program) really is a separate LOCUS project. Dr. Tellez-Giron, Lake Locken, I would like to recruit a first year student to take over this part of the project.

Accomplishments:

Completed analysis of survey data and presented to LOCUS at Spring retreat.

Submitted abstract to WAFP.

Began accumulating demographic data and literature resources necessary for poster presentation in October.

Challenges and Solutions:

We have continued to deal with the busy schedules of everyone involved. However, I believe that if we're able to recruit another student this will be very helpful in ensuring that the second part of the project is carried to fruition, as well as being a meaningful project for the student involved. I would like to maintain some involvement and help in whatever way I can over the next two years.

Next Steps:

Locus Project Objectives and Key Tasks	Target Date for Completion
Creation of poster for presentation at WAFP Conference	October 2002
Recruitment of another LOCUS fellow to work on second part of project	Fall 2002
Assist LOCUS fellow in becoming part of project and contacting 26 community members who have expressed interest in Part 2 of project (i.e. educational program) and identify 2-3 persons to participate in pilot program over next two years.	Spring 2002
Assist pilot members in identifying educational program of interest and funding for that program utilizing project resources and existing community programs (e.g. MATC, UW, etc.)	2003

Resource Needs:

We currently have a file of 2 year educational programs in the health care field (e.g. LPN, CNA, MA, etc.) as well as possible funding sources for these programs. We will continue to build this file as necessary to meet the interests of participants.

I anticipate that it may be difficult to find a first year LOCUS fellow to take on the second part of the project. I am hoping that by actively recruiting and encouraging fellows, we will be able to do so.

Last update:

September 20, 2002

Graduation Requirements Progress Chart
If you complete the requirements outlined below, you will graduate as a LOCUS fellow.

A check indicates the item has been completed.

When	What	On-line
Year 1: Beginning of Semester 2	New Project Report	Submit Report
Year 2: Beginning of Semester 1	Project Update	Submit Update
Year 2: Beginning of Semester 2	Project Update	Submit Update
Year 3: Beginning of third year	Project Update	Submit Update
Year 4: August of fourth year	2-3 page final summary of project that includes a reflective evaluation of the project process	N/A
Ongoing	Participate in program evaluation (written and/or focus group)	View Options
By the end of fourth year	Select poster, presentation, paper, creative option or your own idea	View Options