Language Access in Healthcare Stakeholders Convene in Charleston

WASHINGTON - Oct. 14, 2013 - PRLog -- The National Council on Interpreting in Health Care (NCIHC) announced today the dates and location of the 8^th Annual NCIHC Membership Meeting. The annual gathering of language access stakeholders will take place on June 6 and 7, 2014 in Charleston, South Carolina. In recent years, South Carolina has seen a high percentage of growth in its immigrant population. With these growing and evolving communities come cultural and linguistic barriers  that potentially contribute to healthcare disparities.

The annual gathering has grown and evolved from small working groups to large national forums where language access advocates exchange ideas and forge and strengthen ties with other leaders from across the country. The two day event consists of interactive and structured information sharing, networking, and brainstorming discussions as well as time for informal focused meetings throughout the event. “This event is not the typical conference where you sit all day and watch hours of PowerPoint presentations,” said Enrica Ardemagni, NCIHC Vice-President. “We really roll up our sleeves and engage in meaningful dialogue that has led to collaboration both within and outside the organization. We’re thrilled to have the opportunity to offer these fora throughout the country each year.”

“The overarching theme of our event this year will be engagement,” stated Dijana Rizvanovic, Chair of the Event Planning Committee. “Patient engagement, community engagement… what are we as a community doing to engage some of our most important stakeholders? And how can we better engage with each other?”

In addition to the membership meeting, NCIHC honors Language Access Champions at the Annual Interpretini Reception. “This year, we’re also excited that our event will coincide with the Spoleto Festival USA, one of the world’s major arts festivals!” stated Rizvanovic. “There will be so much to do while we are in Charleston! We can’t wait.”

"The Council has very deliberately traveled to different parts of the country for each of our Annual Membership Meetings”, explained NCIHC President, Joy Connell. “There are numerous factors that go into the decision, such as member input -- both at the AMM and throughout the year, the size of the limited English proficient community, geographic balance, cost, and where there is a group of language access advocates in need of support.  All of those, and more, help to inform our final determination.”

NCIHC, a multidisciplinary organization whose mission is to promote and enhance language access in health care in the United States, formalized in 1998 after a series of working group meetings that began in 1994. Since then, NCIHC has organized an annual gathering of hospital administrators, policymakers, researchers, healthcare providers, language access advocates, interpreters, and interpreter educators from around the nation.

For more information about NCIHC, visit http://www.ncihc.org. For continuous updates about the 8^th Annual Membership Meeting follow hashtag #NCIHC2014 on Facebook and Twitter.