About Us
Alce su Voz (‘Speak Out’) is a coalition of Spanish-speaking Latinx families, interpreters, healthcare providers, community leaders, and university faculty and students whose mission is to improve health equity for Spanish speakers and speakers of indigenous languages in Kansas. We are dedicated to listening to, understanding, and amplifying the stories of Spanish-speaking patients, families, and healthcare providers and exploring and evaluating ways to improve healthcare communication. We also advocate for equitable practices in healthcare, including improved institutional policies for providing interpreting services, improved dissemination of health information to Latinx communities, and educational opportunities to prepare clinicians to speak Spanish and utilize interpreting services.
Our Story
The need for Alce Su Voz became apparent when bilingual Latinx students from Wichita State University began to share stories of interpreting for their parents at medical visits when professional interpreters were not provided, being pulled away from a practicum or job in healthcare to interpret despite not being hired or trained as an interpreter, or providing interpreting services at institutions where their work was not fully valued or understood. In 2020, faculty and students from Wichita State organized a series of meetings with Spanish-speaking patients, family members, healthcare providers, and interpreters to provide an opportunity for story sharing and the formation of a team to improve healthcare for Spanish speakers in Kansas. Despite a pivot to virtual platforms during the COVID-19 pandemic, the team identified opportunities for improvement in the healthcare system, established grassroots community education initiatives, and increased public awareness about language access issues in Kansas. Moving forward, the team plans to increase involvement of Spanish-speaking families in Kansas and better understand the ways that individuals experience language barriers in specific areas, including maternal health, mental health, chronic illness, and cancer.
Mission
Our mission is to support health equity for speakers of Spanish and Indigenous languages in the U.S., with a focus on Kansas and the Midwest
Vision
Our vision is a future in which:
- State and institutional infrastructures are designed so that speakers of marginalized languages receive equitable care and resources, including qualified interpreting services and accessible public health information in a language and format they can understand, and
- Marginalized language communities have the knowledge, skills, and resources they need to attain the highest possible level of health and well-being.
Strategies
We are working to achieve this mission and vision through the following strategies:
- Community engagement and education in the areas of language access, access to mental and behavioral healthcare, civic engagement, and multilingual education
- Engagement with policy makers and healthcare leaders to improve state and institutional policies and procedures for supporting linguistically diverse communities
- Support for the development of a workforce of qualified bilingual healthcare providers, trained interpreters, and clinicians who are prepared to care for linguistically and culturally diverse communities
