Fellowship story

One out of four New Yorkers doesn't speak or understand complex sentences in English. But at some point in their lives, every one of them will need to see a doctor. Language barriers can result in misdiagnoses, medication errors, and potentially fatal mistakes that are costly for both patients and providers. For this reason, hospitals in New York are required to provide "meaningful language access" to all patients. But in a city where more than 140 different languages are spoken, this is no easy task.

When her doctor told her she was a borderline diabetic, Rose Morales took the warning seriously. The 50-year-old Ventura woman had seen what diabetes had done to her relatives.

The Women, Infants and Children Program provides food vouchers and nutritional education to low income families. California runs the biggest WIC program in the nation -- 60 percent of all infants born in this state are enrolled in it. Now, the program's changing the kinds of food it recommends. Reporter: Rachel Dornhelm

aired on http://www.californiareport.org/

Serious depression is a growing problem for multicultural seniors. But unlike older whites, ethnic people 50-plus are blocked from treatment by poverty, limited or no insurance, lack of programs geared for them—and the stigma of mental problems that permeates many cultures. New America media senior editor Paul Kleyman begins his occasional series on mental challenges for ethnic seniors with this article on treatable depression.