Authors: Nancy Kohn, The Access Project; Beau Stubblefield-Tave, The Cultural Imperative; Robert Seifert, The Access Project

Description: The Access Project partnered with a diverse coalition of New Hampshire organizations on an effort to assess language service issues for limited English proficient and Deaf/Hard of Hearing patients and the health care system’s capacity to serve such patients. With funding from the Endowment for Health, The Access Project collaborated with Beau Stubblefield-Tave of the Cultural Imperative. The research process was designed to build on existing data resources while collecting new data from:

• Health care providers at hospitals, community health centers, community mental health centers and oral health clinics;
• Interpreters serving both the LEP and Deaf communities;
• LEP patients and community residents as well as advocates from the D/HoH and LEP communities; and
• Policy makers and content experts at the state, local and national levels.