Dr. Rachel Showstack, associate professor of Spanish, presented “Improving Healthcare Language Access Through Cross Disciplinary University-Community Partnerships” at Middlebury College on Jan. 13, 2026.
Description: Dr. Rachel Showstack presented a set of barriers to equitable healthcare communication for speakers of Spanish and Mayan languages in Kansas and described the processes of engaging community members, interpreters, and healthcare leaders in a project aimed at improving healthcare language access across the state. “Alce su Voz” is a community-based program housed within Wichita State University’s modern language department that emerged from a series of stakeholder meetings in spring 2020 and has developed a multi-pronged approach to improving health equity for individuals with non-English language preference (NELP). By exploring the impact of engagement with diverse groups of stakeholders, Dr. Showstack makes a case for extending community-based research practices that include cross-disciplinary collaborations.