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Author Archives: TonySchmitz

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Language Barriers Keep Hispanics from Care

Posted on September 25, 2023 by TonySchmitzSeptember 25, 2023

Good news on breaking down language barriers for Hispanic patients? No, not really, according to a survey funded by a supplemental medical  insurance provider, Aflac. In the national 2023 study of Spanish-speaking patients, a third of the 2,001 employed adults … Continue reading →

Posted in Disparities

Seat at the Table: Serve on Equitable Health Care Task Force

Posted on September 18, 2023 by TonySchmitzSeptember 18, 2023

Here’s a chance to voice your opinions on health equity and optimal health outcomes — and in a way that’s more likely to result in change than simply mumbling around the water cooler. The Minnesota Department of Health is looking … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture/Religion, Disparities

Conference Goal: Make Health Education Material Relevant

Posted on September 11, 2023 by TonySchmitzSeptember 11, 2023

Translating health education materials is a step in the right direction. But if the material is difficult to understand in English, translation won’t make it better. Get insight on improving the usefulness of your communication at the virtual Health Literacy … Continue reading →

Posted in Language/Literacy

Human Interpreters: How threatened by AI?

Posted on August 27, 2023 by TonySchmitzAugust 27, 2023

What’s does job security look like for interpreters in the face of recent advances in artificial intelligence? Get the low down from Middlebury Institute of International Studies associate professor Barry Olson, a conference interpreter with 25 years of experience. Olson … Continue reading →

Posted in Interpreters/Translators

Webinar Helps Put Communication in Cultural Context

Posted on August 21, 2023 by TonySchmitzAugust 21, 2023

Getting the language right in health communication is one thing, but placing the words in a relevant cultural context is another. Get insight from industry experts on creating a culturally appropriate environment in a Public Health Communications Collaborative webinar, Noon … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture/Religion

Medical Interpretation in the U.S.: Inadequate Approaches Harm Patients

Posted on August 14, 2023 by TonySchmitzAugust 14, 2023

Here’s a dose of bad news from the Hastings Center on the failures of medical interpretation and the resulting harm to patients. In this recent essay, Medical Interpretation in the U.S. is Inadequate and Harming Patients, a team of writers observe that … Continue reading →

Posted in Interpreters/Translators

Hazy Days, Health Risks: Info in Spanish, English

Posted on August 7, 2023 by TonySchmitzAugust 7, 2023

Those hazy days that result from distant fires raise an obvious question: what can I do to protect myself and my family both indoors and outdoors? Here’s information in Spanish and English that offers steps you and your patients can … Continue reading →

Posted in Resources

Stress and Self-Care: Get Tips on How to Cope

Posted on July 31, 2023 by TonySchmitzJuly 31, 2023

Are you or your co-workers worn down by the stress of trying to meet the needs of immigrant and refugee communities? Here’s information that can help, to be offered by the Metro Immigrant and Refugee Health Network in a WebEx … Continue reading →

Posted in Refugees/Immigrants, Resources | Leave a reply

Webinar Tackles Traumatic Stress in Refugee Kids

Posted on July 24, 2023 by TonySchmitzJuly 24, 2023

Among the challenges for refugee youth: overcoming stress resulting from migration and resettlement. At worst they can be subject to abuse, exploitation and trafficking, but also routinely suffer from limited access to resources and the dislocation of existing as a … Continue reading →

Posted in Refugees/Immigrants

Interpreters: Only the Lonely?

Posted on July 14, 2023 by TonySchmitzJuly 14, 2023

What is a problem all too common for medical interpreters? When Kelly Henriquez asked that question at a panel on interpreter self-care at a national conference, the answer she got was, Loneliness. Henriquez, a dual-certified Spanish medical/healthcare interpreter working in … Continue reading →

Posted in Interpreters/Translators

Taking It to the Next Level: Simultaneous Interpretation

Posted on July 10, 2023 by TonySchmitzJuly 10, 2023

It’s one thing to interpret with pauses allowed in the exchange between speakers. But as this amusing and instructive video explains, simultaneous interpretation is a more daunting and sophisticated task that requires years of preparation. The instance depicted by the … Continue reading →

Posted in Interpreters/Translators

The Art Behind Translation

Posted on July 3, 2023 by TonySchmitzJuly 3, 2023

Usually we’re here concerned with the utilitarian aspects of translation. How does a Hmong patient, for example, best learn more about foot care with diabetes, post-op care or child immunization schedules? This week let’s take a step off the path … Continue reading →

Posted in Interpreters/Translators

AI vs. Human Interpreters: Who Wins?

Posted on June 25, 2023 by TonySchmitzJune 25, 2023

Take a look at this video that compares the efforts of two human interpreters against interpretation provided by the AI app, Kudo. The results? Less weighted against AI than you might think. The human interpreters found some of the language … Continue reading →

Posted in Interpreters/Translators

When the Translator Is a Child

Posted on June 20, 2023 by TonySchmitzJune 20, 2023

Navigating the medical, governmental and business structures of the US is a routine challenge for college-educated native English speakers. Now imagine attempting the same as a recent immigrant. And now take it a step further: you’re a child in an … Continue reading →

Posted in Language/Literacy

Get Help Treating Trauma in Refugee Kids

Posted on June 12, 2023 by TonySchmitzJune 12, 2023

Get a handle on understanding the effect of traumatic stress on children who have been displaced and relocated by force in this free webinar, Traumatic Stress Among Refugee Children and Youth, set for noon to 1:30 pm, Wednesday, June 21. … Continue reading →

Posted in Refugees/Immigrants, Uncategorized

A Little Creepy: Multi-Lingual AI Fueled Robot

Posted on June 5, 2023 by TonySchmitzJune 5, 2023

Get a look at a version of the future — here’s an AI-powered robot that switches with alacrity from English to German to Chinese to Japanese in a Q&A with an off-screen interviewer. A video of the conversation appears in … Continue reading →

Posted in Interpreters/Translators

How to Keep Women Alive: Give Them Money

Posted on June 1, 2023 by TonySchmitzJune 1, 2023

A global study recently published in the magazine Nature reveals a solution to lowering death rates among women: make cash grants to them and their families. In countries making such payments, deaths among women fell by 20 percent, while deaths … Continue reading →

Posted in Resources

“Belonging”: The Latest Twist on Diversity Training

Posted on May 29, 2023 by TonySchmitzMay 29, 2023

The New York Times recently took a crack at explaining the latest permutation of diversity training in this story: Why Some Companies Are Saying ‘Diversity and Belonging’ Instead of ‘Diversity and Inclusion.’ Reporter Jennifer Miller describes a new generation of … Continue reading →

Posted in Bias

Info to Get Patients Back on Well-Baby Track Post COVID

Posted on May 15, 2023 by TonySchmitzMay 15, 2023

Did your patients postpone well-child visits and immunizations during three years of worry about COVID-19? Here are reminders in Hmong, Spanish and Somali that explain why they should get back on track. This Minnesota Council of Health Plans website explains … Continue reading →

Posted in Resources

Why Money, Education Offer Scant Protection for Black Moms

Posted on May 8, 2023 by TonySchmitzMay 8, 2023

A recent Tip of the Week reported on research showing that more money and more education generally protects women from bad birth outcomes — except if you’re Black. Compared to the richest white mothers, the richest Black mothers and their … Continue reading →

Posted in Disparities

Get Help with Crisis Communication

Posted on April 30, 2023 by TonySchmitzApril 30, 2023

Communicating health risks in an emergency to immigrant, refugee and migrant communities can be tricky. Get help via this best practices webinar, set for Tuesday, May 9, noon – 1:30 p.m., offered by the Minnesota Department of Health and the … Continue reading →

Posted in Events, Refugees/Immigrants

The Bias Inside Us

Posted on April 24, 2023 by TonySchmitzApril 24, 2023

In case you missed it until now, here’s a lively online exhibition offered by the Smithsonian Institution. The Bias Inside Us sets out to: Help people understand and counter their implicit biases. Build capacity in communities to convene dialogue that … Continue reading →

Posted in Bias

The Health Effects of a Daily Dose of Racism

Posted on April 17, 2023 by TonySchmitzApril 17, 2023

Here’s another way of looking at the causes of health disparities. Thirty years ago, University of Michigan researcher Arline Geronimus advanced a theory that the stress of living in a racist society can lead to bad health outcomes for marginalized … Continue reading →

Posted in Disparities

Ancient Spanish in New Mexico: End of the Line?

Posted on April 10, 2023 by TonySchmitzApril 10, 2023

If you’re interested in the life span of languages, here’s an intriguing story in the New York Times, New Mexico Is Losing a Form of Spanish Spoken Nowhere Else on Earth. The piece describes the arrival of Spanish-speaking migrants who … Continue reading →

Posted in Language/Literacy

Health Info: Make It Easy to Understand

Posted on April 3, 2023 by TonySchmitzApril 3, 2023

Here’s help on getting your health messages across in a way that most people can understand. Check out a new resource from the Public Health Communications Collaborative, Plain Language for Public Health. Clear communication helps beat back harmful health-related fabrications. … Continue reading →

Posted in Resources, Training Manuals

Artificial Intelligence Meets Translating, Interpreting

Posted on March 26, 2023 by TonySchmitzMarch 26, 2023

Good news if you happen to be an athlete, bus mechanic, or short order cook. Those professions are judged to be least affected as artificial intelligence becomes, well, more intelligent, according to a paper published in March by University of … Continue reading →

Posted in Interpreters/Translators

Economic Disparities: A Deep Dive into Cultural Differences

Posted on March 20, 2023 by TonySchmitzMarch 20, 2023

Get a close look at the continuing deep economic disparities among Minnesota’s different cultural groups in “The Economic Status of Minnesotans 2023,” a new report by the Minnesota State Demographic Center. The report analyzes data points that compare the state’s … Continue reading →

Posted in Disparities

COVID Treatment in Translation Via Telehealth

Posted on March 6, 2023 by TonySchmitzMarch 6, 2023

English, Hmong, Somali and Spanish speakers can get easier access to care and treatment — and suffer less risk of serious disease — through a telehealth partnership between the Minnesota Department of Health and Cue Health. Here’s how it works. … Continue reading →

Posted in Resources

Staggering Infant Death Disparities and a Path Toward Equity

Posted on February 19, 2023 by TonySchmitzFebruary 23, 2023

If you’re on the lookout for shocking statistics, here are some from a recent New York Times story, Childbirth Is Deadlier for Black Families Even When They’re Rich, Expansive Study Finds. For the richest white mothers, 173 babies die before … Continue reading →

Posted in Bias, Resources

Learn How to Fight Health Misinformation

Posted on February 13, 2023 by TonySchmitzFebruary 13, 2023

Here’s a free virtual symposium sponsored by the National Library of Medicine that will help you beat back the plethora of misinformation that keeps people from getting quality care. Set for April 4-6, a team of presenters will provide information … Continue reading →

Posted in Events, Resources

Long COVID Info, Translated

Posted on February 5, 2023 by TonySchmitzFebruary 5, 2023

This just in from the Minnesota Department of Health: short videos about the vexatious issue of long COVID, translated into Spanish, Somali, Hmong and English, available here. These videos are a contribution to narrowing the disparities of long COVID on … Continue reading →

Posted in Resources

For Black Women: The Case for Doulas

Posted on January 30, 2023 by TonySchmitzJanuary 30, 2023

Take a look at this New York Times article — ‘I Don’t Want to Die’: Fighting Maternal Mortality Among Black Women — that describes the life-saving benefits of a St. Louis doula program. The article outlines the need for culturally specific care … Continue reading →

Posted in Disparities

The Secret Language of Design

Posted on January 16, 2023 by TonySchmitzJanuary 16, 2023

Usually we’re concerned with the vicissitudes of communicating across language barriers. But here’s another way to think about how you’re interacting with patients. Recently the New York Times explored a few of the unspoken pitfalls by which patients get a … Continue reading →

Posted in Language/Literacy

New Restrictions Confront Asylum Seekers

Posted on January 9, 2023 by TonySchmitzJanuary 9, 2023

For would-be asylum seekers attempting to enter the US, the road got longer last week, as President Joe Biden announced new restrictions on people fleeing conditions in Cuba, Nicaragua, Venezuela and Haiti. Those who simply show up at the border … Continue reading →

Posted in Refugees/Immigrants

Free Covid Treatment; Guidance in Hmong, Somali, Spanish, English

Posted on January 2, 2023 by TonySchmitzJanuary 2, 2023

So you’ve tested Covid positive but wonder what your next move should be. Here’s help — for free, and in English, Hmong, Spanish and Somali — for Minnesota residents who have shown Covid symptoms within the past five days. Download … Continue reading →

Posted in Resources

A Gay Afghani Refugee’s Plight, Animated

Posted on December 26, 2022 by TonySchmitzDecember 26, 2022

Here’s another rendering of the trauma that can underline a refugee’s life, this time describing the flight of “Amin” from Afghanistan as the Taliban takes over. The film, Flee, is a true story,  rendered primarily in animation in part to … Continue reading →

Posted in Refugees/Immigrants

Music Turned into Motion

Posted on December 19, 2022 by TonySchmitzDecember 19, 2022

How to interpret musical performance for the deaf? That’s the question taken up by the video above, where ASL interpreters transform a song for the hard of hearing. The nuts and bolts of rendering music in ways that will be … Continue reading →

Posted in Interpreters/Translators

Keeping Baby Safe, in Multiple Languages

Posted on December 12, 2022 by TonySchmitzDecember 12, 2022

Here’s a sweet, short video on how to keep your new baby safe, offered up in English, Arabic, Dari, Burmese, Karen, Lingala, Kinyarwanda, Nepali, Pashto, Swahili, Tigrinya, Ukrainian, French, Russian and Spanish. In simple, direct language, Who She Will Become … Continue reading →

Posted in Refugees/Immigrants

For Interpreters: What to Do When the News Is Bad

Posted on December 5, 2022 by TonySchmitzDecember 5, 2022

Among the challenges for medical interpreters: how to convey bad news from providers to patients and their families. This hour-and-a-half webinar, presented by InterpretAmerica, takes on the sensitive issues involved. The recorded webinar is geared toward providing interpreters with tools … Continue reading →

Posted in Interpreters/Translators

The Revived Language of Manx

Posted on November 28, 2022 by TonySchmitzNovember 28, 2022

How long do languages last? Already it’s not uncommon to hear children of immigrants admit they don’t speak their grandparents’ native tongue that well. What about their children and grandchildren? What does it take to save a language? Here’s a story … Continue reading →

Posted in Language/Literacy

RSV, in Translation

Posted on November 21, 2022 by TonySchmitzNovember 21, 2022

With RSV (Respiratory Syncytial Virus) clearing out local school classrooms, here are translated health information sheets that can help ESL patients get a better understanding of a disease with potentially dire outcomes for young children. Below find pieces from various … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a reply

For Newcomers: Sidestepping the Scams

Posted on November 14, 2022 by TonySchmitzNovember 14, 2022

As if being uprooted from your life isn’t tough enough for refugees and immigrants, there are more dangers once they arrive in the US. Among them: the scam artists waiting to take advantage. You can learn more about how to … Continue reading →

Posted in Refugees/Immigrants

Immigration Policy: Compromise?

Posted on November 7, 2022 by TonySchmitzNovember 7, 2022

A recent story in the New York Times asked the question, Can Republicans and Democrats Find a Way Forward on Immigration? Reporter Eileen Sullivan observes that movement on this sticky issue will necessitate compromise, a quality Washington finds short supply. Three … Continue reading →

Posted in Refugees/Immigrants

The Long Wait for Refugee Status

Posted on October 31, 2022 by TonySchmitzOctober 31, 2022

Among the consequences of the US collapse in Afghanistan, the war in Ukraine, and the disintegration of Venezuela: an even longer wait for refugee status for people from other parts of the world. The New York Times recently reported that … Continue reading →

Posted in Refugees/Immigrants

Cultural Bereavement: An Explanation

Posted on October 24, 2022 by TonySchmitzOctober 24, 2022

The New York Times explores another tragic dimension of the immigrant and refugee experience in this story, Missing the Home You Needed to Leave: There is a name for the specific type of grief that both refugees and migrants experience. … Continue reading →

Posted in Refugees/Immigrants

Busting Those Myths about Immigration

Posted on October 16, 2022 by TonySchmitzOctober 16, 2022

True or False: Immigrants will take American jobs, lower wages, and especially hurt the poor. Get a straight answer to this and 14 other common myths about immigrants in the United States. The Cato Institute’s Alex Nowrasteh examines familiar complaints … Continue reading →

Posted in Refugees/Immigrants

Guaranteed Income for Refugees: A Pilot Project

Posted on October 8, 2022 by TonySchmitzOctober 11, 2022

What happens when newly-arrived refugees get a year-long guaranteed income? An International Institute of Minnesota pilot project is aimed at getting an answer. Intended as a bridge to a stable life in their new home, the program will direct $750 … Continue reading →

Posted in Refugees/Immigrants, Resources

Immigrant, Refugee Health Network Meetings Resume

Posted on September 26, 2022 by TonySchmitzSeptember 28, 2022

After a lengthy hiatus, the Minnesota Immigrant and Refugee Health Network is back in business. The first meeting is set for 9:30-11 am, Tuesday, October 11. Register by October 10 here. You’ll get instructions on how to join the meeting … Continue reading →

Posted in Refugees/Immigrants

Get Translated Monkeypox Materials

Posted on September 19, 2022 by TonySchmitzSeptember 19, 2022

dStuck in your search for translated health education materials for monkeypox? Here are resources to get you started when treating patients with limited English. From the Minnesota Department of Health: The basics covered in English, Hmong, Somali, Spanish. (Scroll to … Continue reading →

Posted in Resources

Getting the Word Out on Resources You Offer

Posted on September 12, 2022 by TonySchmitzSeptember 12, 2022

We’ve previously highlighted the excellent on-line news source, Sahan Journal, as a way to keep up with deep information on the immigrant experience in Minnesota. Here’s another way to make use of this resource as you look for ways to … Continue reading →

Posted in Resources

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