News & Articles

Ocean of Pearls-Feature Film

11.20.2015

Amrit Singh is of two worlds, but belongs to neither. A turban-wearing Sikh, he has lived his life in North America out of sorts and out of place, cast adrift between East and West. Hoping for a new start, he embarks on an ambitious pursuit of success, but soon learns that he must first define his own singular identity before he achieves peace.

The trailer can be viewed by going to their official website at www.oceanofpearls.com.

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Understanding Depression Across Cultures

Families participating in Head Start come from many different cultural backgrounds, bringing a unique blend of history, traditions andbeliefs to the tasks of child rearing and education. Some come from groups that have been oppressed for generations. Others arerecent immigrants, trying to combine their native culture with the one in which they currently live. Still others are deeply rooted in ahistory of cultural traditions. Similarly, all of the individuals who work in Head Start also bring their own rich cultural traditions andbeliefs to their work with families. As a result, families and Head Start staff may have different ideas about what is good for children.How long children sleep, what methods work to manage their behavior, what they expect at mealtimes, and how they play with otherchildren may all involve different cultural values. Recognizing that cultural heritage and identity influence each of us in many, profoundways is a first step in ….

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What is a “brain attack?”

Ask Dr. Lane
Communicator Express, November 2010
 
What is a “brain attack?”
A brain attack is a term coined by neurologists to describe strokes or cerebral vascular accidents. Everyone recognizes the word, “heart attack” and knows that this means that an artery in the heart has been blocked. Someone that has had a heart attack needs immediate medical attention. The same is true when someone experiences a “brain attack.” If an artery supplying a part of the brain is blocked, then that part of the brain’s function can be lost. We know that if we can get a heart attack victim to a catheterization (cath) lab very fast, the symptoms of the heart attack can be ameliorated and stopped. If we can get a victim of a stroke to a special lab within three hours of the onset of symptoms, the probability of stopping the symptoms and having a good rehabilitation climbs astronomically. A stroke, or cerebral vascular accident is when an artery supplying a particular part of the brain is stopped up and blood cannot reach this part. The functions supplied by that part of the brain stop, or are destroyed, or immensely impaired. Major complaints associated with ischemia to the brain include:
• Brief loss of consciousness, or period of decreased consciousness (fainting, confusion,
   convulsions or coma)
• Sudden, severe headache with no known cause.
• Sudden numbness or weakness of the face, arm or leg, especially on one side of the body.
• Sudden trouble walking, dizziness, loss of balance or coordination
• Sudden confusion, trouble speaking or understanding.
• Sudden trouble seeing in one or both eyes.
When someone experiences symptoms like these, it is an emergency. If the symptoms improve and/or disappear within 24 hours, the attack is called a TIA which means Transient Ischemic Attack. If the symptoms last longer than 24 hours it is a stroke. In the beginning, one does not know if the attack will end in 24 hours and be a TIA or have symptoms that continue and be a stroke. With certain tests, a physician can determine the type of stroke and whether it would respond to treatment. If an ischemic stroke can be treated within 24 hours, the symptoms can be alleviated and sometimes cured. There are two kinds of strokes. One is ischemic and the other is hemorrhagic. In ischemic strokes the blood vessel to the brain is plugged and the part of the brain that the vessel supplies is damaged due to lack of oxygen. There are two kinds of ischemic strokes. One is caused by the narrowing of the artery with a clot forming on it. The clot forming in the narrowed artery is called a thrombus and for this reason this stroke is called a thrombotic stroke. The other ischemic stroke is caused by a clot that forms in the heart or aorta and travels up to the brain and occludes an artery.
This kind of traveling clot is called an embolism and the stroke is an embolic stroke. Ischemic strokes are most common and cause 84% of all strokes. The second major kind of stroke other than ischemic is called a hemorrhagic stroke. This is when the blood vessel in the brain breaks and blood goes directly out of the vessel. If the bleeding occurs in the parenchyma of the brain this is called an intracranial hemorrhage (ICH) and if it occurs outside, or under the brain it is
a subarachnoid hemorrhage. Hemorrhagic strokes only make up 15% of all strokes but cause 30% of the deaths that are caused by strokes. If the emergency room doctor does a CT scan as soon as possible, he or she can determine if there is a hemorrhage (bleeding). If there is no hemorrhage, and it is within 3 hours of onset of the symptom(s), the doctor may initiate a treatment to dissolve the clot, called tissue plasminogen activator (tpa). Tpa stimulates an
enzyme called plasminogen to dissolve the clot. Often the results can be dramatic. If the stroke is due to bleeding, tpa would only make the bleeding worse. That is why it is so important to determine the kind of stroke in order to provide the best treatment.
Remember the signs of a stroke and when you see them, get the patient to a hospital as soon as possible. Some hospitals have developed stroke centers specially designed to evaluate the kind of stroke and start the treatment as soon as possible. So like a heart attack, a quick evaluation to find the clot and identify if it is hemorrhagic or ischemic, can give an ischemic “brain attack” a strong chance to be cured.
Reference
1. http://www.stroke.org/site/DocServer/NSA_complete_
guide.pdf?docID=341
This article is copyrighted and is not to be used without the express written consent of CCCS©2010.

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What is Pulmonary Fibrosis?

Ask Dr. Lane
Communicator Express, September 2010
 
What is Pulmonary Fibrosis?
Pulmonary Fibrosis is an autoimmune disorder that causes inflammation to attack the walls of the alveoli or air sacs. Scarring occurs in the walls and they become thick and difficult to distend. It takes much more work to move the lungs during the act of breathing, and the thick, scarred walls interfere with gas exchange. The patient becomes breathless in the struggle to move the lungs and to get enough oxygen in, and CO2 out. This kind of lung disease is therefore called a restrictive disease because the movement of the lung tissue and the gas exchange are restricted. This is in contrast to obstructive diseases like asthma and emphysema where the problem is in the obstruction of the airways. In pulmonary fibrosis, there is little that can be done as far as treatment is concerned other than anti-inflammatory drugs that are usually in the form of corticosteroids.
This article is copyrighted and is not to be used without the express written consent of CCCS©2010.

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Are You Ready to Interpret For A Mental Health Encounter?

A great majority of mental health encounters happen in primary care or in the emergency room. According to the Bazelton Center for Mental Health Law, 25% of all primary care encounters involve a diagnosable mental illness and 50% of mental health problems are still not being diagnosed properly. The World Health Organization is recommending that all medical providers “screen for mental health issues, assess and furnish care to those with mild or moderate disorders or whose severe mental health disorders are stable.”

So even if interpreters decide not to interpret in traditional mental health settings, they will certainly find themselves interpreting for patients with mental health issues. For example, in her
assessment of a patient with possible memory impairments, a family doctor may conduct memory testing through the interpreter. Or an ER doctor may see a patient presenting with suicidal ideation, one who is experiencing his first psychotic break, or one who suffers from substance abuse issues.In all of these situations, the interpreter will be practicing mental health interpretation.

Are you ready to interpret in mental health settings? When you think of the term “mental health,” what is your first reaction? How would you describe a person who suffers from a mental illness or disorder? Mental illness is prevalent in today’s society. According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC),“One in two Americans has a diagnosable mental disorder.”The reality, then, is that all of us, as individuals, have been impacted to some extent by someone who suffers from a mental illness.

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