Health Across Cultures

Tools to Help You In Your Efforts to Address Disparities

Care Choices has many tools for addressing cultural differences, ranging from a foreign language assistance line to its member newsletter. In addition, Care Choices has gathered resources from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and other groups. Follows is a list of both Care Choices and other resources that will help you to get the best care possible.

Care Choices provides interpretation services for its members. Translators can assist over the telephone or can go to a physician office or hospital with you. Call the Care Choices Customer Service Foreign Language Assistance Line:

Care Choices HMO: (800) 852-9780

Care Choices PPO: (800) 307-9226

Institute of Medicine (IOM) Report Unequal Treatment: Confronting Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Health Care.

Oakwood Healthcare's Multilingual Health Information for Seniors.

Asian Americans, Pacific Islanders and Diabetes.

"What Health Care Consumers Need to Know about Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Health Care" is a summary from the Institute of Medicine that discusses how providers' attitudes and beliefs, either conscious or unconscious, can contribute the quality of patient care. It also provides tips on how the patient can take action.

The Office of Minority Health of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is an excellent source of information about health of minority populations.

The National Academies website, Online Resources for Minority Patients, features links to many helpful resources.

The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) has brochures that give patients tips on how the get the best quality health care:

Quicktips - When Planning for Surgery
Quicktips - When Talking to Your Doctor
Quicktips - When Having Medical Tests

Preventive Health Care Guidelines contain recommendations for immunizations and routine preventive screening procedures along with factors such as family history and race/ethnicity that put you at higher risk for developing certain diseases.

Choice Comments, the newsletter for members of Care Choices, regularly contains articles to help empower you and help you to take an active role in managing your health and make health care decisions. Visit Choice Comments to find several articles.