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November 2006
Feature Story
Grants help care-givers better serve the Hispanic community
MUSC's College of Nursing is on the forefront when it comes to knocking down challenges health care professionals face in caring
for Charleston's growing Hispanic population.
Deborah Williamson, DHA, associate dean of practice, and Charlene Pope, PhD, assistant professor, have received a two-year grant from
the Duke Endowment to fund the Hispanic Health Initiative. Dr. Williamson had also been awarded an additional, five-year Health Resouces and Services Administration grant (with Sheila Smith, PhD, RN, as co-investigator). The two grants total more than $2 million.
The Hispanic Health Initiative has four goals: it aims to improve access to quality healthcare for Hispanic women and their families;
develop cultural competence in the nursing workforce; increase recruitment and retention of Hispanic nursing students and faculty; and
promote health policy that supports the Hispanic community.
Targeting the Johns Island community, Dr. Williamson, principal investigator for the grants, and her colleagues have teamed with Sea
Island Medical Center to enhance services offered at the medical facility.
"This university collaboration with the community health center expands resources to address the health needs of the Hispanic community,
"she explains. The grant funds a bilingual physician, nurse midwife and pediatric nurse practitioner to provide care to Hispanic women and their children.
Health education is a big component of improving health concerns. The two grants fund health education programs on everything from nutrition
to family planning to women's health and infant care.
"Improving care also means helping the Hispanic community navigate and access the US health care system," says Dr. Williamson, explaining that
her team networks with various agencies to provide all these different health education programs. "It's very basic information, such as when
to use the phone code 911, when to use the emergency room. But it's important."
Also made possible by the grants is a "Mom's Morning Out" program, a collaborative effort that includes the Charleston County School District,
Trident Literacy Association, and Midland Park Community Ministries.
"This program combines educational and health services to improve the well-being of immigrant women and children," says Dr. Williamson.
The program provides school readiness training to children of Latino descent, ages two to three, who reside in the Midland Park Elementary school
district; at the same time, their mothers receive ESL and health awareness education classes.
English classes are a second goal of the program, yet they're important, says Dr. Williamson. "Immigrant mothers are often socially isolated, and
this helps improve and possibly prevent that."
A pilot program, "Mom's Morning Out" could be a model for other schools and districts, hopes Dr. Williamson.
"I would like to see more partnerships like this one in the community for children," adds Dianne Inman, Program Coordinator and director of the
Pediatric Nurse Practitioner Program at MUSC College of Nursing.
Also funded by the grants is radio talk show guest Dr. Vanessa Diaz, of the Department of Family Medicine at MUSC, who covers a variety of health
topics, including health concerns for children, on local Spanish radio station EL SOL.
The initiative also funds programs to improve cultural competency in the nursing work force. "That competency extends beyond caring for Hispanics to
apply to caring for any patient in the hospital system that's not of your culture," Dr. Williamson points out. "It's particularly important for nurses,
who are there with a patient all day. Cultural norms affect healthcare behaviors and therefore outcomes; part of being a nurse is being respectful of differences."
Increasing recruitment of Hispanic or bilingual students and faculty is another component of the Hispanic Health Initiative. "Less than five percent of
physicians in this country are Hispanic, and just two percent of nurses are Hispanic," notes Dr. Williamson. "While 14 percent of our nationwide population is Hispanic."
Initiative personnel are working with community colleges, high schools, and the SC Area Health Education Consortium (a national program focused on building
a pipeline for healthcare providers). Dr. Williamson hopes the grant will help increase the number of Hispanic students interested in health-related careers,
particularly nursing, and the number of bilingual and Hispanic nursing faculty.
Health policies that support Hispanics are also a goal. Developing interpreter services is key. "It's very difficult to get equal care if you don't speak
the language," says Williamson.
The number of interpreters at MUSC has increased from one to 15 over the last five years. Accessible interpreter services mean family members are not placed
in inappropriate situations, says Dr. Williamson.
"Often when a Hispanic family comes in, it's a child who speaks the best English," she notes. "If a child is called upon to translate, it puts the child in an
awkward position of relaying sensitive information. It changes family dynamics by altering the parent/child relationship. Also, children may make mistakes that
can result in errors in medication or treatment." Federal guidelines, the CLAS standards, require competent and trained interpreters in healthcare settings.
"These grants make it possible for us to expand limited resources through collaborations with educational institutions, hospitals and community-based organizations,"
says Dr. Williamson. "Immigrant populations bring new energy and talent to our communities. Children born to immigrants are US citizens. We can choose to create a
culture of poverty for these young citizens, or we can provide basic health and educations services that are necessary for their success as adults in our culture."
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