SUNY Institute of Technology Library
P.O. Box 3051
Utica, NY 13504
tel: (315) 792-7250
fax: (315) 792-7517
www.sunyit.edu/library/html/culturedmed/index.html
LEP Task Force Participant
I am a librarian at the SUNY Institute of Technology in Utica, New York (one of the 64 campuses in the State University of New York system). I was a member of the founding board of MAMI of Central New York
(Multicultural Association of Medical Interpreters) and taught 16 hours (cultural competency sessions) of the 72 hour training sessions.
My concern is for the refugee and immigrant population of Utica which is 10% the city's total population of about 65,000. I have read avidly for the last 3-4 years about delivery of culturally competent care in health care settings. I have made many friends in the refugee communities and have developed and now maintain a web page with bibliographies about specific groups and their health beliefs. This has received wonderful support from my college, our school of nursing, and interested others. I now get a broad array of question from all around the world and have noticed the need for information that has great impact on real life situations.
For three years I tutored newly arrived refugees in ESL (for Literacy Volunteers). Last year I co-taught a two credit course on "Cultural Competency and Health" in the School of Nursing. I am now developing another two credit course on a similar topic to be offered this winter with a different faculty member.