In Somali there’s a popular term for going to the doctor: maalintii oo dhan. It means “all day.” The expression is often muttered by those who need interpretation during their health care visits in City Heights, usually after waiting several hours to be seen. Mid-City Community Advocacy Network’s Access to Healthcare Momentum Team is attempting to solve this issue through a series of workshops for the Somali, Bantu Somali, and Korean communities as the first stage to developing patient standards for quality interpretation.

These workshops are considered Participatory Action Research (or PAR), which includes several stages to find a solution. People identify what their experiences are through community-lead surveys, and based on the data, create their own guidelines for health care interpretation.  

“This research is an avenue to create standards and regulations that people are satisfied with. The level of details involved in the process to empower people about their rights,” said Jama Mohammed, Organizer of the Access to Healthcare Momentum Team at Mid-City CAN. “This research provides the issue but it also provides a solution, which is what makes it so valuable.”