- Physician supply in the U.S. is again on the national health policy agenda. A central issue in this debate is the availability of physicians willing to work in underserved and disadvantaged communities-an issue closely linked to the number of minority and international medical graduate (IMG)…
- The move toward “cultural competence” that responds to the diversity of California’s population is reflected in efforts of California hospitals to provide linguistically appropriate care for their patients who have limited English proficiency. Legal mandates underscore this need. Health care…
- Objective To determine if professional medical interpreters have a positive impact on clinical care for limited English proficiency (LEP) patients. Data Sources A systematic literature search, limited to the English language, in PubMed and PsycINFO for publications between 1966 and…
- Many U.S. residents who speak little English may face language barriers when seeking health care. This article describes what is currently known about language barriers in health care and outlines a research agenda based on mismatches between the current state of knowledge of language barriers and…
- Of the 33 million people in California, the nation's most populous state, minority groups now constitute the majority of the population. Many sources predict that by 2060, the entire country will mirror the diversity of California today. Like the rest of the country, California is experiencing a…
- On any given day American doctors; offices, hospital emergency rooms, and health centers, are alive with the sounds not only of Spanish, but also of Haitian, Creole, Somali, Hmong, Mandarin, Russian, and other languages from across the globe. These languages communicate more than words. They can…
- Californians speak a multitude of languages. In 2000, California ranked first in the U.S. in percent of the population speaking English less than “very well”. With 20% of the general population and 25% of school-age children of limited English proficiency, concerns are rising that many Californians…
- This brief provides an overview of an emerging and unique workforce in California. Community health workers (CHWs) and promotores are public health professionals who carry out a variety of health promotion, case management, and service delivery activities at the community level. This profession…
- Central to efforts to increase access to dental care has been a focus on the supply, distribution and diversity of a workforce willing and able to provide care for underserved populations. While there are no definitive numbers, between 3 and 9 million Californians are lacking access to care or have…
- Language and cultural barriers to medical care are a large and growing problem in the United States. A number of federal and state laws, as well as professional and accreditation standards, require and encourage health care organizations to provide culturally and linguistically accessible health…
- A number of federal and state laws address the need to provide health care in a language that the patient understands. This two-page overview of major California and Federal lists requirements for health care providers to provide language assistance to patients who require these services. The…
- PURPOSE: Little is known about whether different types of physician and nonphysician primary care clinicians vary in their propensity to care for underserved populations. The objective of this study was to compare the geographic distribution and patient populations of physician and…
- California has a considerable and increasing need for interpretive services in health care. Currently one in every five Californians, over 6 million people, qualify as Limited English Proficient (LEP) and could be expected to benefit directly from improved interpretive services and the attendant…
- Legislative calls for new methodologies to identify dentally underserved areas are an acknowledgement of the growing concern that the existing Dental Health Professional Shortage Area (DHPSA) designation criteria are outdated and ineffective. This report explores the history of DHPSAs, critiques…
- Widely perceived shortages of pharmacists have been reported across California by a spectrum of providers. Advances in drug therapies and technology, the shear number of prescriptions now written for American consumers, and an aging demographic likely to increase pharmaceutical usage has severely…
- The objective of the study was to examine the characteristics of acute-care hospitals that report registered nurse shortages when a widespread shortage exists and when a widespread shortage is no longer evident. The authors used secondary data from the American Hospital Association's Nursing…
- OBJECTIVES: This study estimates the supply and geographic distribution of dentists in California and examines the community characteristics associated with supply of dentists. METHODS: The number of practicing dentists was estimated from American Dental Association data on licensed…
- The racial and ethnic composition of the registered nurse (RN) workforce in California is not at parity with the composition of the population. We find that the underrepresentation of African Americans in nursing in California appears to be due to lower overall educational attainment among African…
- Today, for a host of internal and external factors, many of the health professions appear to be losing their appeal to potential workers. Nursing, nationwide and in California, has become a pressing example. The state faces severe nursing shortages, particularly in some geographic areas and within…
- CONTEXT: Many rural and inner-city communities in the United States have persistent shortages of health professionals. In addition, health services are increasingly delivered in community-based settings by interdisciplinary teams. Yet, health professions students in the US continue to receive most…
- Access to dental services in California is an issue of increasing concern to federal and state policy makers, as demonstrated by both new legislation addressing access to dental care and increased funding for existing programs. Recent research has shown that many Californians do not receive regular…
- This report provides a descriptive overview of local public health departments in California. Data are provided on the size and scope of agencies, characteristics of the population served, managed care interactions, partnerships in the community and the pressing issues for these agencies. This…
- The decision of the Regents of the University of California (UC) to end selective admissions for racial/ethnic minorities in 1995 and the passage of Proposition 209 in 1996 have generated great concern about the enrollment of underrepresented minorities (URMs) in UC medical schools. This report…
- The biomedical model has formed the foundation and defined the character of contemporary American medical practice and education. There is a growing perception, however, that the biomedical model cannot fully reflect the broad clinical realities of modern health care and that practitioners must…
- Affirmative action has been used by institutions and individuals in the United States since the 1960s to increase the participation of women and racial and ethnic minorities in employment, contracting and higher education. This report utilizes a broad perspective to review the data and research…