U.S. Government
Health Care Information
For Spanish Speakers
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This page offers links to U.S. Government organizations and services that may be helpful to health care providers who work with a Spanish-speaking population. The resources listed contain patient health education handouts or information about working with Spanish speakers. The information on this page is divided into two main categories: information about government policy and information for patients. This page is best viewed with Microsoft Internet Explorer.
Government
Policy Information
Administration
on Aging
http://www.aoa.gov/minorityaccess/resources.html
This page, sponsored
by the Administration on Aging, contains links to health and aging
resources for minorities and diverse populations. The information on this page is in English, but there is useful
information about important issues among underserved populations.
Department of Health and Human Services
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is the United States government's principal agency for protecting the health of all Americans and providing essential human services, especially for those who are least able to help themselves. Their site contains links to agencies and organizations affiliated with the HHS.
On August 11, 2000, President Clinton signed Executive
Order 13166, requiring that agencies and programs take steps to ensure that
Federally-funded activities are accessible to all persons who, as a result of
national origin, are not proficient or are limited in their ability to
communicate in the English language. The Department of Health and Human Services
responded with the Strategic Plan to Improve Access to HHS Programs and
Activities by Limited English Proficient (LEP) Persons. This plan is outlined
at http://www.hhs.gov/gateway/language/languageplan.html. In addition, HHS
provides links to other government agencies that offer information in Spanish.
Office
for Civil Rights
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services issued
written policy guidance to assist health and social services providers in
ensuring that persons with limited English skills can effectively access health
and social services. The guidance explains OCR's existing policies. It outlines
the legal responsibilities of providers who receive Federal financial
assistance from HHS - such as hospitals, HMOs and human service agencies - to
assist people with limited English skills.
It also provides a flexible road map to the range of options available
to providers in meeting the language needs of the nation's increasingly diverse
populations.
Office of Minority Health
The Office of Minority Health (OMH) was created by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) in 1985. Under the direction of the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Minority Health, OMH advises the Secretary and the Office of Public Health and Science (OPHS) on public health issues affecting American Indians and Alaska Natives, Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and Other Pacific Islanders, Blacks/African Americans, and Hispanics/Latinos. The mission of OMH is to improve the health of racial and ethnic populations through the development of effective health policies and programs that help to eliminate disparities in health. One of the recent projects of OMH was a set of recommendations for national standards for culturally and linguistically appropriate services (CLAS) in health care. This is found at http://www.omhrc.gov/clas/. There is also a link to a version in Spanish.
National Council on Disability
The National Council on Disability (NCD) is an independent federal agency making recommendations to the President and Congress on issues affecting 54 million Americans with disabilities. NCD's overall purpose is to promote policies, programs, practices, and procedures that guarantee equal opportunity for all individuals with disabilities, regardless of the nature or severity of the disability; and to empower individuals with disabilities to achieve economic self-sufficiency, independent living, and inclusion and integration into all aspects of society. The site provides links to information about the organization, news releases, resources, and links to other agencies. There is a link to a brochure in Spanish about NCD at http://www.ncd.gov/brochure_spanish.pdf. In addition, site users can link to a translation tool for the Web site from NCD’s Home page.
United States Border Health
Commission
http://www.borderhealth.gov/HOME-ESPANOL/home-espanol.html
The U.S. Border Health Commission aims to providing international leadership to optimize health and quality of life along the U.S.-Mexico Border. There are two primary goals of the Commission. They include institutionalizing a domestic focus on border health, which can transcend political changes, and creating an effective venue for binational discussion to address public health issues and problems that affect the U.S. and Mexico border populations. The information on this site is available in both English and Spanish.
Patient or
Consumer Information
Agency for Healthcare
Research and Quality
http://www.ahcpr.gov/consumer/espanoix.htm
AHRQ is a lead U.S. Federal government agency responsible for health care system research. It focuses on how the health care system is working, quality and costs of care, access and use of services, and on health care outcomes. Their site provides links to clinical information as well as links for consumers and patients. This site contains an alphabetized list of consumer materials in Spanish by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). An English equivalent title is under each Spanish title. In addition, AHRQ maintains page with links to information about Minority Health Care issues. This information can be found at http://www.ahcpr.gov/research/minorix.htm.
Centers for Disease Control
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) aims to protect the health and safety of people by providing credible information to enhance health decisions, and promoting health through strong partnerships. From the CDC’s Spanish-language Home page, users can link to services and programs that may be of interest to Spanish speakers. Searchers can also find links to other CDC information, such as:
National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
http://www.cdc.gov/spanish/niosh/
The
National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) is the Federal
agency responsible for conducting research and making
recommendations for the prevention of work-related disease and injury. From
NIOSH’s Spanish-language Home page, searchers can link to research data, health
and safety evaluations in the workplace, NIOSH publications, and other
resources.
Department of Health and Human Services
healthfinder® ESPAÑOL
http://www.healthfinder.gov/espanol/
Healthfinder® is a gateway consumer health information web site from the United States government. This page contains links to reputable health information in Spanish. Users can enter a specific search term or select from highlighted topics.
The National Women’s Health
Information Center
http://www.4women.gov/spanish/
The NWHIC is a service of the Office on Women's Health in the Department of Health and Human Services. The NWHIC provides a gateway to the vast array of Federal and other women's health information resources. From this site, users can access a wide variety of women's health-related material developed by the Department of Health and Human Services, other Federal agencies, and private sector resources.
Federal
Consumer Information Center
The Federal Consumer Information Center offers links to
information in Spanish at http://www.pueblo.gsa.gov/spanish/splinks.htm.
Of particular information is their list of health information at http://www.pueblo.gsa.gov/spanish/splinks.htm#health.
Food
and Drug Administration (FDA)
From the FDA’s Web site, one can access consumer and professional
information on foods, drug, biologics, cosmetics, devices, toxicology research,
and regulations and reporting data. The FDA offers easy-to-read brochures in
Spanish, free of charge, at http://www.fda.gov/opacom/lowlit/spanlow.html.
Users can access information about medicine safety at http://www.fda.gov/womens/taketimetocare/Meds_Spn.html.
FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research offers documents in
Spanish at http://www.fda.gov/cder/audiences/iact/iachome.htm#Spanish.
It should be noted, however, that CDER recommends using the English version of
the document as the official guidance on the topic. All guidances can be found
at http://www.fda.gov/cder/guidance/index.htm.
Medicare
http://www.medicare.gov/Spanish/Overview.asp
From Medicare’s Spanish-language Home page, patients and providers
can access search tools, information on Medicare basics, information about
nursing homes, Medicare publications, Medicare plan choices, helpful contacts,
information about how to recognize and prevent Medicare fraud and abuse, and
general health information.
National
Cancer Institute’s Cancer.gov
http://www.cancer.gov/espanol/
This site contains cancer information for health professionals and
patients. From here, users can access clinical trials information, patient
education handouts, press releases and other publications.
National Institutes of Health
The NIH home page provides easy access to the organization's constituent agencies and scientific resources. From the Spanish-language Home page, users can access: press releases, publications, clinical trials, healthfinder®, Cancer.gov, women’s health information, articles, resources, the HHS Hispanic Agenda for Action.
The National Institute of
Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases
The National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases conducts and supports research on many of the most serious diseases affecting public health. The Institute supports much of the clinical research on the diseases of internal medicine and related subspecialty fields as well as many basic science disciplines. NIDDKD provides information for the Spanish-speaking population at http://www.niddk.nih.gov/health/spanish.htm.
Other NIH Organizations
with Information in Spanish
National Eye Institute (NEI) http://www.nei.nih.gov/health/espanol/index.htm
National Heart Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI) http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/prof/heart/latino/latin_pg.htm
National Institute on Alcohol Abuse
and Alcoholism (NIAAA) http://www.niaaa.nih.gov/publications/brochures.htm#espanol
National Institute of Arthritis, Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS) http://www.niams.nih.gov/hi/index.htm
National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD) http://www.nidcd.nih.gov/health/pubs_span/index.htm
National Institute of Dental and
Craniofacial Research (NIDCR) http://www.nidcr.nih.gov/health/spanish/index.asp
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) http://www.niehs.nih.gov/external/espanol/home.htm
National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) http://www.nigms.nih.gov/funding/sp_medforyou.html
National Institute for Mental Health (NIMH) http://www.nimh.nih.gov/publicat/spanishpub.cfm
National Institute of Neurological Diseases and Stroke (NINDS) http://www.ninds.nih.gov/health_and_medical/spanishindex.htm
U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission produces
publications about a variety of topics. From their Publications page at http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/spanish/spanish.html,
users can find important information, publications, news, general safety
information, and other printed information.
Compiled
by
Denise
Shereff
Graduate
Student
College
of Library and Information Science
University
of South Carolina
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