PALS for Health was established in 1993. We are the language service program of Special Service for Groups (SSG) 1952, a non-profit United Way agency that provides innovative services to diverse ethnic minority and disenfranchised communities. SSG created PALS for Health specifically to increase access to meaningful and quality health care services for limited English proficient residents of Los Angeles County.

Considered by many as a pioneer in health care interpretation and translation services, PALS for Health has devoted over 15 years to the development and refinement of effective tools designed to promote linguistically and culturally appropriate communication. Its various projects, which include interpretation, translation, language proficiency testing, health care interpreter training, HIV/AIDS interpreter training, health care translator training, provider and community education, and advocacy complement each other to paint a complete picture of language needs of our communities and strengthen the program’s capacity to offer a comprehensive spectrum of services.

With firmly established roots in the community, PALS for Health draws from a wealth of bilingual and bicultural experts who represent our area’s diverse population in the truest sense. With highly practical skills designed to enhance service delivery obtained from the variety of PALS for Health’s trainings, these community experts bring to our clients the highest quality of services that sensitively capture appropriate cultural and linguistic nuances vital to effective communications in health care settings.

PALS for Health brochures (version 2002/2003)

• English brochure (.pdf format, 71KB)
  
• Chinese brochure cover (JPG, 558KB) and brochure inside (JPG, 607KB)
  
• Japanese brochure cover (JPG, 497KB) and brochure inside (JPG, 687KB)
  
• Korean brochure cover (JPG, 539KB) and brochure inside (JPG, 619KB)
  
• Thai brochure cover (JPG, 584KB) and brochure inside (JPG, 679KB)
  
• Vietnamese brochure cover (JPG, 562KB) and brochure inside (JPG, 593KB)
  

ALAS para Tu Salud Sin Barreras del Idioma para Una Communidad Más Saludable was developed as a project of PALS for Health in May 2003 to offer interpretation and translation services, as well as patient language rights training to the limited English proficient (LEP) Latino/Hispanic communities of Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino and Ventura counties. For more information, please call Mireya Muñoz at (213) 627-4850.

• ALAS para Tu Salud Spanish language brochure cover (.pdf format, 556 KB)
  
• ALAS para Tu Salud Spanish language brochure cover (JPG, 552 KB)
• ALAS para Tu Salud Spanish language brochure inside (.pdf format, 708 KB)
  
• ALAS para Tu Salud Spanish language brochure inside (JPG, 704 KB)

History

REACH 2010 / PATH For Women

API Task Force

Our women’s health component was developed in 1996 through the convening of a group of interpreters and staff who identified breast cancer to be a critical concern in the API community. Led by Karen Quintiliani-Hodgson and Heng Lam Foong, this initial team of breast health educators met over a span of 8 months to create linguistically and culturally appropriate workshops targeting limited English proficient (LEP) Cambodian, Chinese and Thai women.

Beginning in 1997, these health educators began facilitating in-language trainings at churches, temples, ESL classes, citizenship classes, and community service centers. We also began a successful collaboration with the UCLA Medical Center’s Iris Cantor Center for Mobile Mammography. It wasn’t long before the mobile mammography van became a familiar sight at various cultural and community events. Many low-income and underinsured women who qualified for the Breast Cancer Early Detection Program (BCEDP) received mammograms at the mobile mammography van. Our breast health educators were responsible for recruitment, education, interpretation, and assisted with follow-up.

The Pacific Islander component soon followed through a partnership with the Tongan Community Service Center in 1998. The highlight of this partnership was the facilitation of a community training which drew over 40 Tongan women and children, many who had never received breast health information in any shape or form. This training preceded a mammography screening of 9 women at a local church, the first time such an event had ever been conducted for the Tongan community in Los Angeles. In 1999, in partnership with the Tongan Community Service Center, Guam Communications Network and the Samoan National Nurses Association, we expanded the Pacific Islander component to include the Chamorro and Samoan communities.

In total, our breast health educators, all who are bilingual/bicultural and trained through American Cancer Society’s Special Touch program, facilitated over 20 workshops, and assisted in the screening and re-screening of over 350 Cambodian, Chamorro, Chinese, Samoan, Thai, Tongan and Vietnamese women in Los Angeles and Orange County.

REACH 2010 / PATH For Women

In October 2000, our breast health component merged with a community breast and cervical cancer partnership, funded via the CDC Foundation’s REACH 2010 initiative. This collaborative known as the PATH (Promoting Access to Health) for Pacific Islander and Southeast Asian women includes partners from UCLA School of Public Health, UCI School of Social Ecology, Orange County API Community Alliance, Guam Communications Network, Samoan National Nurses Association, Tongan Community Service Center, Families in Good Health, and PALS for Health. PATH is designed to research and create interventions for Cambodian, Chamorro, Laotian, Samoan, Thai, Tongan and Vietnamese women.

API Task Force

Since the inception of this component, PALS for Health has also been an active member of various local and statewide women’s health committees. PALS for Health co-chaired the API Task Force of Partnered for Progress Los Angeles Regional Cancer Partnership and was also a member of their Board of Directors from 1997 to 2000. We’re currently members of the API Advisory Committee of California Department of Health Services, Cancer Detection Section, Breast and Cervical Cancer Control Program, and are also active in the Asian American Network for Cancer Awareness, Research and Training (AANCART).

Of the various community collaborations we’ve been a part of, one of the highlights took place on May 13, 1999 when the API Task Force of Partnered for Progress Los Angeles Regional Cancer Partnership played an instrumental role in facilitating the first-ever convening of a multiethnic API breast cancer survivor speakers panel (see picture above). Appropriately named “Equally at Risk: API Women Speak Out on Breast Cancer” the panel was aimed at debunking the dangerous myth that API women are at low risk for breast cancer and also to encourage API women to access early detection. This standing room event was held at the Los Angeles Public Library in conjunction with Art.Rage.Us, an exhibit of creative works by women with breast cancer. We consequently teamed up with the API National Cancer Survivors Network a project of the Asian and Pacific Islander American Health Forum, and The Breast Cancer Fund to convene a similar panel in Oakland in conjunction with Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

The development and consequent achievements of our women’s health component would not have been possible without support from the Office of Minority Health, Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, CDC Foundation, and Partnered for Progress Los Angeles Regional Cancer Partnership.

For more information on the Women's Health component, please call Mireya Muñoz at 213-627-4850 (e-mail mireyam@palsforhealth.org.

Special Service for Groups, Inc. (SSG)

Special Service for Groups is a United Way member, community-based non-profit human services agency which was incorporated in 1952. SSG is committed towards the development of human service programs which reflect a variety of community needs and concerns. The Asian and Pacific Islander community is a diverse, fast-growing population with a variety of often unrecognized needs and concerns. The PALS for Health Program is one of the over 25 multi-ethnic human services programs developed by SSG.

Past and present funding support of PALS for Health is provided by:

1. County of Los Angeles, Department of Health Services, Office of AIDS Programs and Policy
2. The California Community Foundation
3. The Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation
4. Office of Minority Health Bilingual/Bicultural Service Demonstration Grant
5. Alliance Healthcare Foundation
6. The California Wellness Foundation
7. The California Endowment
8. UniHealth Foundation
9. Weingart Foundation

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Why should I use a trained health care interpreter? Isn’t bilingual staff adequate?

A: A trained health care interpreter’s bilingual proficiency has been properly assessed and deemed superior. The interpreter is trained in medical terminology, interpretation skills and bound by the ethical standards guiding the practice of health care interpretation.

Bilingual staff members often do not have adequate proficiency in medical terminology nor are they skilled in interpretation techniques. Furthermore, the heavy workload of bilingual staff does not permit them to easily step away from primary duties to interpret for patients.

Providing trained health care interpretation services will also help you to ensure that the quality of your services is not lost in translation. It will promote trust with the patient and will prevent potential medical malpractice from inadequate interpretation by untrained interpreters. Finally, there is a large body of federal and state laws mandating the provision of competent language assistance to limited English proficient health consumers. A partial list of language access laws and regulations include:

Federal Laws & Guidance	California Laws & Regulations
Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act Executive Order 13166 Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Office for Civil Rights (OCR) LEP Guidance Office of Minority Health Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Standards (OMH CLAS) Federal Medicaid/SCHIP Managed Care Contracts	CA GOVT. CODE §§ 11135,11139 22 C.C.R. §§ 982100 et seq. Dymally-Alatorre Kopp Act Medi-Cal Contracts Healthy Family Contracts SB 853 (Escutia): Managed Health Plans

Q: Is there a difference between a trained and untrained interpreter?

A: Many studies report that untrained interpreters commit more mistakes when interpreting than trained interpreters; these errors include omissions, additions, substitutions and distortions in the meaning of the message. Lack of language proficiency and training accounts for most of these errors. Studies also have found that these errors are of potential clinical consequences that can and do lead to serious harms to the patients. To read personal stories of limited English proficient patients who were not provided with a trained health care interpreter, we invite you to read, “In the Absence of Words,” which can be viewed for free at http://tcenews.calendow.org/pr/tce/document/In_the_Absence_of_Words.pdf. For a free copy of Acrobat Reader.

Q: Can I ask a patient to bring his/her own interpreter?

A: NO! Federal and state language access laws (Link to Table in 1st question) require health care facilities that receive feder and state funding, and managed health plans to provide no-cost interpretation services, or competent bilingual staff to meet the language needs of the limited English proficient patients.

Q: Can I use family members as interpreters? How about during an emergency?

A: Using family members as interpreters is strongly discouraged due to limitations in medical terminology and interpretation skills. Medical visits, especially those to the Emergency Room, can be stressful and traumatic. Family members accompanying the patients may suffer stress and trauma associated with the visit that may hinder their ability to interpret accurately. Furthermore, in some incidences, the limited English proficient patients may not feel comfortable disclosing sensitive information, such as drug use or sexual issues, to their family members to interpret for the provider. Family members who act as interpreters may also have the tendency to answer on behalf of the patient, even when these answers are inaccurate or incomplete. There are laws that require hospitals and clinics to provide no-cost face-to-face interpretation services, use competent bilingual staff or provide telephone/video medical interpretation services in acute care situations. If none of these options are available, a family may use a family member to interpreter but only as the absolute last resort and only until such time the hospital is able to locate an interpreter, competent bilingual staff or connect with a telephone or video interpreter.

Q: Should children be used as interpreters?

A: NO! Children often do not have the proficiency and training to serve as interpreters. Children are often pulled out of school to interpret for their limited English proficient family members. In many instances, these children are subjected to very sensitive medical information and may feel responsible for the health of their family members. To read a personal story about the trauma suffered by a child-interpreter, please read pages 6-8 of “In the Absence of Words”.