Outcomes of a Medical Interpreter Training Program for Community Health Workers in a Rural Area of the State of...

Effective patient-provider communication plays an essential role in healthcare outcomes, thus patients with limited English proficiency (LEP) in the United States experience barriers to optimal healthcare. The Hispanic LEP population is growing in many states, while the number of trained medical interpreters has not kept pace with demand. This gap is especially pronounced in rural Kansas, where lack of interpretation services is frequently cited as a barrier to healthcare access. Spanish-speaking community health workers often navigate this process for patients despite lack of formal training or organizational infrastructure support to carry out these duties. To address this need, an intensive Medical Interpreter Training was designed specifically for CHWs in rural Kansas. Spanish- English bilingual CHWs from rural Kansas were recruited for the program, which aimed to build essential knowledge, skills, and professionalism for effective medical and community interpreting. The 5-day, 40-hour training achieved a 91% pass rate, with 20 of 22 participants earning qualification to pursue national medical interpreter certification provided by both the Certification Commission for Healthcare Interpreters and the National Board of Certification for Medical Interpreters. Significant pre-post improvements were observed in confidence, knowledge, understanding, complexity, and comfort across medical interpretation domains; professional behavior remained high at baseline and post-training. Qualitative feedback highlighted the value of interactive role-playing, hands-on activities, and expert instruction, and comprehensive coverage of ethical standards and cultural competence. The CHW-MITP demonstrates that training CHWs in medical interpretation is a feasible strategy that potentially reduces language barriers for Spanish-speaking populations in rural Kansas.