Backus connects with the region’s cultures
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• What: “Connecting with Cultures” Multicultural Healthcare Fair
• When: Thursday, Sept. 30, from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. n Where: Backus Hospital
entry-level conference rooms
• For more information: Contact Alice Facente at 889-8331, ext. 2405
Learn more about other cultures and their healthcare customs at a multicultural fair this month.
A Multicultural Health Fair, “Connecting with Cultures,” hosted by Backus Hospital, will be held on Thursday, Sept. 30. There will be representatives from more than 20 cultures, with informational handouts on healthcare customs and recipes, and interesting displays at each table.
The community is welcome and hospital employees are encouraged to attend to learn more about the different cultures of residents of eastern Connecticut. There will be handouts with information on birth customs, gender issues, communication and respect styles and end-of-life issues. Language barriers and cultural differences can pres- ent challenges to the delivery of healthcare.
“We would like to raise awareness of the wonderful diversity of the area,” said Alice Facente, RN, a clinical educator with the Backus Education Department. “Our focus is how to best care for people in the hospital.”
Ms. Facente said eastern Connecticut has become an increasingly more diverse community in recent years. Norwich Public Schools report more than 30 different languages are spoken in the homes of students.
The hospital is seeking volunteer representatives from the community to represent their cultures by helping at the tables for two-hour shifts during the fair. For information or to volunteer to represent your culture, please call (860) 889-8331, ext 2495.
Rose Field-Santiago, an administrative assistant at Backus, volunteered at the first multicultural fair last year.
“I do think it is an important event. It is a way for a lot of people to learn more about different cultures,” she said. She said when she attended the fair last year she was interested to see how cultures used different ingredients in their recipes and items traditionally used for healing.
There will be food samples prepared by the Backus Food and Nutrition Department, highlighting Haitian and Portuguese cuisine, available from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. for a tasting.