Federal civil rights policy and mental health treatment access for persons with limited English proficiency.

نویسندگان

  • Lonnie R Snowden
  • Mary Masland
  • Rachel Guerrero
چکیده

As noted in the supplement to the U.S. Surgeon General's report on mental health (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2001), overcoming language access barriers associated with limited English proficiency (LEP) should help to eliminate racial and ethnic disparities in mental health care access and quality. Federal policy requires remedial action to overcome language barriers: Under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Medicaid and other federally funded programs must provide assistance to LEP persons. Some state-level public and mental health authorities have responded by instituting "threshold language" policies. The history and terms of federal civil rights policy, and of threshold-language-policy-inspired initiatives, should be understood by everyone concerned with overcoming ethnic disparities in mental health services use. Concerned parties should promote implementation of required measures for language assistance and help to evaluate their implementation and effectiveness.

برای دانلود متن کامل این مقاله و بیش از 32 میلیون مقاله دیگر ابتدا ثبت نام کنید

ثبت نام

اگر عضو سایت هستید لطفا وارد حساب کاربری خود شوید

منابع مشابه

The impact of threshold language assistance programming on the accessibility of mental health services for persons with limited English proficiency in the Medi-Cal setting.

BACKGROUND Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act prohibits federal funds recipients from providing care to limited English proficiency (LEP) persons more limited in scope or lower in quality than care provided to others. In 1999, the California Department of Mental Health implemented a "threshold language access policy" to meet its Title VI obligations. Under this policy, Medi-Cal agencies must...

متن کامل

Qualitative evaluation of mental health services for clients with limited English proficiency

BACKGROUND To meet federal requirements under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, the state of California instituted policies requiring that comprehensive mental health services in native languages be made available to limited English proficiency (LEP) populations when concentrations exceed "threshold" levels. METHODS This paper builds on promising results from quantitative evaluations by repor...

متن کامل

Creating a Safe, High-Quality Healthcare System for All: Meeting the Needs of Limited English Proficient Populations; Comment on “Patient Safety and Healthcare Quality: The Case for Language Access”

The article by Cheri Wilson, “Patient Safety and Healthcare Quality: The Case for Language Access”, highlights 
the challenges of providing Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services (CLAS) to patients with 
Limited English Proficiency (LEP). As the US pursues high-value, high-performance healthcare, our ability 
to meet the needs of our most vulnerable will determine whether we succeed...

متن کامل

Providing linguistically appropriate services to persons with limited English proficiency: a needs and resources investigation.

Increasing numbers of persons in the United States cannot speak, read, write, or understand the English language at a level that permits them to interact effectively. These limitations can hamper encounters between patients and healthcare providers, often leading to misunderstandings as to diagnosis and treatment, which in turn may result in poor patient compliance, unsatisfactory outcomes, and...

متن کامل

National Health Service Principles as Experienced by Vulnerable London Migrants in “Austerity Britain”: A Qualitative Study of Rights, Entitlements, and Civil-Society Advocacy

Background Recent British National Health Service (NHS) reforms, in response to austerity and alleged ‘health tourism,’ could impose additional barriers to healthcare access for non-European Economic Area (EEA) migrants. This study explores policy reform challenges and implications, using excerpts from the perspectives of non-EEA migrants and health advocates in London.   Methods A qualitative ...

متن کامل

ذخیره در منابع من


  با ذخیره ی این منبع در منابع من، دسترسی به آن را برای استفاده های بعدی آسان تر کنید

برای دانلود متن کامل این مقاله و بیش از 32 میلیون مقاله دیگر ابتدا ثبت نام کنید

ثبت نام

اگر عضو سایت هستید لطفا وارد حساب کاربری خود شوید

عنوان ژورنال:
  • The American psychologist

دوره 62 2  شماره 

صفحات  -

تاریخ انتشار 2007