Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

Abstract #110541

Tania Cossio-Molina, BA¹, Elizabeth G. Bayne, BS¹, Susan Nappi, MPH², and Tara Rizzo, MPH³. (1) Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, Yale University, 60 College Street, P.O. Box 208034, New Haven, CT 06520-8034, 203-785-6260, elizabeth.bayne@yale.edu, (2) Community Center of Excellence in Women's Health, Women's Health Coordination Center at Griffin Hospital, 67 Maple Avenue, Derby, CT 06418, (3) Griffin Hospital Community Center of Excellence in Women's Health, 67 Maple Ave, Derby, CT 06418

Connecticut's Naugatuck Valley has recently experienced an influx of Spanish-speaking residents. From 1990 to 2000, the Latino population in Naugatuck Valley has increased by over 80%, far exceeding the 58% increase in the Latino population nationwide. Health care providers are often unable to meet the interpreting needs of this growing community. The resulting suboptimal communication with health care providers can end in medical mismanagement and errors, serious patient dissatisfaction, low compliance, and a decrease in access to health care services. In response to this situation, the Naugatuck Valley Project, a grassroots community organization, in collaboration with the Community Center of Excellence in Women's Health at Griffin Hospital, conducted 16 focus groups with men and women of over 18 years. The focus groups served to assess the need for medical interpreting services in the Latino community in the Naugatuck Valley. Focus groups were conducted in Spanish, transcribed, coded using Atlas.ti qualitative software, and analyzed. Key themes which emerged, included frustration with the inability to understand diagnoses and prescription regimens, which significantly affect compliance with medications and future medical appointments. The results will be used by Griffin Hospital and the Naugatuck Valley Project to establish a medical interpreting program and identify other health care access and service needs of this growing immigrant population. This formative research data could provide a reference point for health care providers across the country serving a diverse group of new Spanish speaking immigrants from diverse countries of origin.

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