Medical Interpreters Association of Connecticut

It is with great pleasure that I am able to share some information here about the newly formed Medical Interpreters Association of Connecticut.

The Medical Interpreting Association of Connecticut (MIAC) is dedicated to fostering linguistic and cultural services for individuals with Limited English Proficiency (LEP) and for healthcare providers, for the purpose of advancing access to healthcare in an informed, equitable and respectful manner.

MIAC's principal objective is to work toward advancing healthcare services for LEP individuals that includes the following:

(a) Promote a system of healthcare that values and demands access to qualified medical/mental health spoken language interpreters and sign language interpreters.

(b) Educate healthcare providers to appropriately use interpreting services.

(c) Assist in creating a pool of linguistically and culturally competent professional medical interpreters.

(d) A process to link medical interpreters with healthcare organizations.

(e) Identify and address the unmet linguistic and cultural needs of LEP individuals.

(f) A process to assuring quality and monitoring effectiveness of interventions/programs.

(g) Policies, procedures and resources to support these components.

Here is some information about the upcoming inauguration:

The Expansion of Connecticut's Limited English Proficiency Population Highlights the Need for a Professional Medical Interpreting Association.

Hartford, CT - July 17, 2007 - Disparities in access and delivery of healthcare is strongly related to the availability of good interpreting services. Along with language, especially for those with limited English proficiency (LEP), the effectiveness of available healthcare services is closely connected to culture, ethnicity and societal customs. In response to these concerns, the Medical Interpreting Association of Connecticut (MIAC) has been created to foster linguistic and cultural understanding through education, outreach, research, policy development and increased organizational awareness of the importance of linguistic and cultural competency. The principal goal of MIAC is to improve access to healthcare services for Connecticut's LEP population in an informed, equitable and respectful manner.

MIAC will be officially introduced to the medical community and government representatives on August 13, 2007, from 6:00 to 9:00 p.m., at Hartford Hospital, Heublin Hall, 560 Hudson Street in Hartford, Connecticut. Members of the media are invited to attend. This event includes a presentation regarding the issues of medical interpreting in Connecticut as well as an expert panel discussion about the need to address language barriers in health care. For LEP individuals, language barriers often result in reduced access to health care services, misdiagnosis, poor quality of care and compromised medical outcomes.

For additional information about this event contact Adela Staines at (203) 623-9911 or adelaabel@gmail.com.

Special thanks to MIAC for not only supporting our project by sharing information about it on their official website (see left), but I am excited to share that MIAC will be making flyers for the From Our Lips project available at the inauguration.

What a great way to start this association off on the right foot, by also encouraging interpreters to support a project that promotes greater awareness of the important work all interpreters do! This event has also been added to the project calendar on the official project website.