Language barriers constitute a significant threat to the health of Latino populations. Engagement of Spanish-speaking Latino patients in patient-centered outcomes research (PCOR) and comparative effectiveness research (CER) is essential to reducing this threat.

However, language professionals, including language researchers, community and medical interpreters, and language policy makers, have not been included in PCOR/CER projects targeting Spanish speakers. The aim of this project is to build capacity for language professionals to engage meaningfully in PCOR/CER. The project team has adopted a three-pronged strategy to advance the aim. The team will engage language researchers through conversations and meetings with Spanish-speaking patients, caregivers, and clinicians who have been involved in PCOR/CER for the past two years.

The project team will develop a presentation and a scholarly publication aimed at informing language researchers of the benefits of engagement in PCOR/CER. The team will engage interpreters through a nationally delivered webinar discussing the unique perspectives and contributions that interpreters bring to PCOR/CER. The webinar will be developed by two interpreters with over 25 years of combined experience in interpreter training and professional development and who have been involved in PCOR/CER for the past two years.

The webinar will be reviewed by a robust group of researchers, patients, caregivers, and clinicians involved in PCOR/CER. Finally, the project team will engage language policy makers, including elected officials, hospital administrators, language access coordinators, and patient advocacy group leaders through the development of two roundtable discussions at large symposia on Latino health in the Midwest region.

The outcomes and ideas generated in these discussions will be memorialized in a white paper and disseminated to interested groups throughout the Midwest. The team will work with 50 patients, caregivers, and clinicians on this project who will play different roles in directing, collaborating, and consulting on project deliverables. The stakeholder group represents a diverse group of people from four regions in Ohio and Kansas. All of these participants have been involved in PCOR/CER for the past two years.

The project team is collaborating with two state-level advocacy groups: the Ohio Commission on Hispanic/Latino Affairs and the Kansas Hispanic & Latino American Affairs Commission. The team is also collaborating across five academic institutions including Ohio State University, the Cleveland Clinic, the University of Cincinnati, the University of Toledo, and Wichita State University.