This book and accompanying CD are designed for health care professionals who are rusty in their speaking and listening skills or who studied Spanish for a semester or two many years ago. Hundreds of novice learners have found the handbook and CD extremely effective because, after six weeks, they are able to speak and understand short Spanish phrases and sentences in health-related environments. This handbook helps agencies and individuals respond to recently issued national standards for culturally and linguistically appropriate services in health care issued by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in 2001.
If you want to learn how to communicate with Spanish-speaking clients, this book and CD are for you. The handbook is organized into a series of six pasos, or steps, each designed to be a lesson. Each paso presents seven exercises or activities designed to engage the novice in learning, practicing, and using health care Spanish. The accompanying CD presents a series of dialogues that occur frequently in both administrative and clinical settings.
Developed through the Spanish for Health Professionals workshops at the University of North Carolina's School of Public Health, this handbook and CD follow the principles of Communicative Language Learning in which the primary emphasis is placed on speaking and listening. These materials have proven highly successful in training health professionals in Spanish and cultural competencies to improve the quality of care provided to the immigrant Latino population.