CLAS Stakeholder Interview

CLAS Stakeholder Interview Protocol

FORM APPROVED

OMB No: 0990-XXXX

Expires: MM/DD/YYYY

Introduction

Interviewer

Good (morning/afternoon) _________________! Thank you again for your availability and willingness to participate in this interview. The United States Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Minority Health is conducting an evaluation of the National CLAS Standards. This interview is an important piece of the evaluation activities being conducted. Specifically, the purpose of this interview is for the Office of Minority Health to understand key stakeholders’ perceptions related to the adoption and implementation of the National CLAS Standards. You have been selected because of the valuable perspective and insights you have about the National CLAS Standards and culturally and linguistically appropriate services or CLAS.

My name again is ________. I work with SRA International, and we are completing these interviews on behalf of the Office of Minority Health. The interview will last approximately one hour. Some of the questions may seem repetitive, but we just want to make sure that we capture as much information as possible.

My partner _____ will be taking notes from our discussion. We would also like to audio record this interview to ensure that we obtain all the information as accurately as possible, and capture any important information that we might miss in our notes. May we have your permission to audio record this interview? The information we collect from you today will only be accessible to the OMH CLAS Implementation Team Evaluation Subcommittee led by the HHS Office of Minority Health. This, and other information related to the project, is also explained in the Consent Form that we sent to you prior to this interview. Do you have any questions?

Great! Let’s begin the interview!

Transition to next phase.

Section I. Demographics, Roles, and Responsibilities

Interviewer

Before we begin, we would like to ask you a little about yourself.

Per HHS data collection requirements, we have to ask you some of the following questions. I will read each answer choice to you; please let me know when I have read the answer (or answers) you would like to select.

1. What is your sex?

____ Male

____ Female

2. What is your age? _________________

3. What is your ethnicity?

_____ Not of Hispanic, Latino/a, or Spanish origin

_____Mexican, Mexican American, Chicano/a

_____Puerto Rican

_____Cuban

_____Another Hispanic, Latino/a, or Spanish origin

4. What is your race?

_____ White

_____ Black or African American

_____ American Indian or Alaska Native

_____ Asian Indian

_____ Asian (PLEASE CIRCLE WHICH ASIAN RACE: Chinese, Filipino, Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese, Other Asian)

_____ Native Hawaiian

_____ Guamanian or Chamorro

_____ Samoan

_____ Other Pacific Islander

_____Other_______________________________________________________

Now, we would like to ask you about the work you are currently doing.

5. What is your current position title within your organization?

6. What are your major responsibilities in this position?

7. Are your major responsibilities related to the National CLAS Standards or CLAS in general?

8. How long have you been in this position? _____________ (whole # of years, if <0 enter 0)

Transition to next phase.

Section II. CLAS and NCS Awareness and Knowledge

INTERVIEWER

Now, let’s talk more about your experiences with CLAS and the National CLAS Standards. First, let’s talk about the term “culturally and linguistically appropriate services.”

9. When did you first hear the term “culturally and linguistically appropriate services” or “CLAS”?

10. How have you learned more about CLAS?

11. What resources would you suggest to leadership and staff in health and health care organizations who want to learn more about CLAS?

Now, let’s talk specifically about the National CLAS Standards in health and health care organizations.

12. With which version of the National CLAS Standards, the original (2001) or enhanced (2013), are you most knowledgeable?

13. How did you first become aware that the National CLAS Standards existed?

14. When did you first become aware that the National CLAS Standards existed?

15. How do you think leadership and staff in health and health care organizations become aware that the National CLAS Standards exist?

16. Given your knowledge and experience, how would you describe the National CLAS Standards to leadership and staff in health and health care organizations?

PROBES: What are the National CLAS Standards?

17. What are the National CLAS Standards’ purpose or purposes?

18. What do you think has been helpful in increasing awareness of the National CLAS Standards among leadership and staff in health and health care organizations?

19. What do you think have been the main challenges in increasing awareness of the National CLAS Standards among leadership and staff?

20. What resources would you suggest to leadership and staff who want to learn more about the National CLAS Standards?

Great! Now, let’s talk more about the enhanced National CLAS Standards, their implementation in health and health care organizations, and what they are supposed to achieve.

Transition to next phase.

Section III. Perceived and Anticipated Outcomes of the NCS Implementation

INTERVIEWER

21. What do you think organizational implementation of the enhanced National CLAS Standards should look like?

PROBES: For example, how do you think a… (depending on the interviewee: a hospital, a community health clinic, a public health department, a mental health clinic, or oral health provider) should implement the National CLAS Standards?

What steps do you think a… (depending on the interviewee: a hospital, a community health clinic, a public health department, a mental health clinic, or oral health provider) should take in implementing the National CLAS Standards?

22. Based on your knowledge and experience, what do you think health and health care organizations gain by implementing the enhanced National CLAS Standards?

PROBES: Why do you think organizations should implement the National CLAS Standards?

What are some issues you think the National CLAS Standards could help an organization address? (e.g., increasing access to services or care, improving quality and safety, reducing disparities, fostering health equity, improving corporate compliance, etc.)

23. What are some factors that could make (or drive) a health and health care organization to decide to implement the enhanced National CLAS Standards?

PROBES: For example, what are the factors internal to the organization that could prompt this decision? What are the factors external to the organization that could prompt this decision?

24. What is helpful to health and healthcare organizations in implementing the enhanced National CLAS Standards?

25. What are barriers to health and health care organizations in implementing the enhanced National CLAS Standards?

26. What do you think are the costs to health and health care organizations implementing the enhanced National CLAS Standards?

PROBES: What do you think are the financial costs?

What are the human resources costs?

What are the costs to organizational culture?

What are the political costs?

27. What outcomes do you think could be achieved after several years (e.g., 5+ years) of a health and healthcare organization implementing the enhanced National CLAS Standards?

Great! Now let’s continue with the last section of this interview.

Section IV. Overall Comments and Closing

INTERVIEWER

Thank you so much for your time and participation. We have learned a great deal from you today.

28. To your knowledge, who are other experts in the field that are knowledgeable about CLAS and/or the National CLAS Standards that we should speak to about these issues?

29. Before we end, is there anything else that we have not asked you about that you would like to share?

To the interviewer – discuss any issue or questions that arose during the interview that were not discussed (e.g., preference/knowledge of original Standards vs. enhanced, more detail about implementation, etc.)

We appreciate you sharing your knowledge and ideas. They will help us and other health and health care organizations tremendously in understanding this process. Please do not hesitate to contact us with any further comments or questions you may have.