Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services (CLAS)

Greene County Public Health is dedicated to providing services that are culturally and linguistically appropriate for Greene County residents.

What is CLAS?

Culturally and linguistically appropriate services (CLAS) improve the quality of services provided to all individuals, helping to reduce health disparities and achieve health equity. CLAS is about respect and responsiveness: Respect the whole individual and Respond to the individual’s health needs and preferences.

The National CLAS Standards

The National CLAS Standards is a set of 15 action steps to advance health equity, improve quality, and help eliminate healthcare disparities by providing a blueprint for individuals and health and healthcare organizations to implement culturally and linguistically appropriate services.

Our Shared Language Guidelines

Purpose

Greene County Public Health (GCPH) welcomes all people and is committed to fostering an environment that supports full access and participation for all employees and customers. Shared language allows us to develop a deeper understanding and collaboration with our stakeholders and the communities we serve. We value the diversity of our communities and appreciate the contributions that all individuals can make based on their diverse abilities, skills, backgrounds, and/or cultures.

GCPH considers a health equity lens when developing and implementing programs/communications. The CDC encourages us to consider the below key concepts when framing health disparities and discussing
public health implications:

  • Public health programs, policies, and practices are more likely to succeed when they recognize and reflect the diversity of the community they are trying to reach.
    • Use language that is accessible and meaningful to your audience of focus.
    • Tailor interventions and communications based on the unique circumstances of different populations.
    • Emphasize positive actions to be taken, ensure that community strengths and solutions are highlighted, and drive local public health efforts.
    • Recognize that some members of your audience of focus may not be able to follow public health recommendations due to their cultural norms, beliefs, or practices.
    • Analyze structural barriers (present and historical) that must be addressed to best serve different populations at different levels and contexts.
  • Not all members of your audience of focus may have the same level of literacy. This includes both the ability to read and the ability to understand the content.
    • Use active verbs and plain language so all audience members can understand the information.
    • Recognize that while some people may not be literate, they possess other life skills that enable them to lead meaningful lives and contribute positively to society.
    • Acknowledge that many people with English as a secondary language are highly literate in a non-English language.
    • Similarly, recognize that people may not be literate in their primary language, and avoid assuming that people with English as a secondary language will understand written information when it’s translated into their primary language.
    • Consider the lack of digital access and literacy. Some people may not have access to technology, and others may not know how to use it.

Key Terms:

  • Diversity: The practice or quality of including or involving people from a range of different social and ethnic backgrounds and or other genders, sexual orientations, etc. (Webster)
  • Ethics: Moral principles that govern a person’s behavior or the conducting of an activity. (Webster)
  • Equity: The absence of unfair, avoidable, or remediable differences among groups of people. Whether those groups are defined socially, economically, demographically, or by other dimensions of inequality (e.g., sex, gender, ethnicity, disability, or sexual orientation). (WHO)
  • Health Equity: This means everyone has a fair and just opportunity to be as healthy as possible. This requires removing obstacles to health, such as poverty and discrimination, as well as their consequences. Including powerlessness and lack of access to good jobs with fair pay, quality education, housing, safe environments, and healthcare. (County Health Ranking)
  • Inclusion: The practice or policy of providing equal access to opportunities and resources for people who might otherwise be excluded or marginalized, such as those with physical or intellectual disabilities and members of other minority groups. (Webster)
  • Morality: A personal or social set of standards for good or bad behaviors and character or being correct and honest. (Cambridge Dictionary)

Creating Shared Language:

GCPH creates shared language by implementing policies and procedures regarding communication and marketing:

Greene County Public Health Marketing Plan

  • Our Marketing Plan is our internal step-by-step process for communication and marketing.

Planning Before You Communicate Tool

  • Planning Before You Communicate is a tool from the Public Health Foundation. This tool helps tailor messaging to ensure that we deliver the right messages in the right place, at the right time, to the intended audiences.

HR - Interpretive Services

  • GCPH utilizes Propio Language Services for translation and interpretation services.