While daily providing care for Spanish speaking clients, many faculty and students in the US are not fluent in a second language and struggle with their inadequacies in providing care to this population. The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHQR) has valuable and readily available resources for us when providing information to Spanish-speaking clients. Consumer guides in English and Spanish are available that compare alternative treatments for a variety of conditions. A diverse range of topics are addressed including anticoagulants, treatments for depression, oral medications for type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, both rheumatoid and osteoarthritis, acid reflux disease, prostate cancer, osteoporosis in women after menopause, and prostate cancer. Obtaining, previewing, and making these guides available for student and faculty use as well as sharing them with our clinical sites is a small step in providing appropriate information for the Spanish-speaking population.

A 10 minute video related to anticoagulants and the companion bilingual brochure can be downloaded from http://www.ahrq.gov/consumer/btpills.htm. A DVD of the video and a copy of the brochure can be ordered by calling 1-800-358-9295 or sending an e-mail to [email protected]. Consumer guides for the other topics listed are available at http://www.ahrq.gov/consumer/compare.html.

Source: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. Daily Digest Email. September 18, 2009. AHRQ Consumer Video and Guides Available in English and Spanish. AHRQ Patient Safety Organizations Update. Available athttp://www.ahrq.gov/news/press/pr2009/spanguidepr.htm. Accessed on September 19, 2009.

Submitted by: Robin Pattillo, PhD, RN, News Editor at [email protected].