Population Dynamics Are Changing the Profile of Rural Areas

An influx of retirees and ethnic populations brings both challenges and benefits to small-town America.

"Rural Americans can be Norwegian bachelor farmers. They can also be Hispanic meatpackers, Indian computer programmers."

"Almost all of the 50,000 residents of Starr County, Texas, are Hispanic. Nonmetro Hispanics have concentrated in the Southwest for centuries; more recent immigrants have settled in metro areas, notably Los Angeles, Miami, Chicago, and New York.

"In the past two decades, however, native- and foreign-born Hispanics have settled in new nonmetro destinations, including counties in the rural Midwest and the Southeast."

An article from the United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.

A Second Article: "Rural Hispanics At A Glance"

Different countries celebrate Mother's Day on various days of the year because the day has a number of different origins.

One school of thought claims this day emerged from a custom of mother worship in ancient Greece. Mother worship - which kept a festival to Cybele, a great mother of gods, and (mythology), the wife of Cronus; was held around the Vernal Equinox around Asia Minor and eventually in Rome itself from the Ides of March (March 15 to March 18).

The Romans also had another holiday, Matronalia, which was dedicated to Juno, though mothers were usually given gifts on this day.

In the United States, Mother's Day was copied from England by social activist Julia Ward Howe after the American Civil War with a call to unite women against war. She wrote the Mother's Day Proclamation.

Today, some organizations are working to revive Howe's original vision of a holiday that celebrates peacemaking by mothers and others. In the UK, the day now simply celebrates motherhood and thanking mothers.

According to the National Restaurant Association, Mother's Day is now the most popular day of the year to dine out at a restaurant in the United States.

Read more about Mother's Day around the world...

WikipediaŽ is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.

All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License

Beginning this month, and throughout the year, Language Line Services will celebrate its 25th Anniversary.

Each issue of In Other Words will feature a brief story or interview about how our company came about.

How a San Jose police officer originally launched our company in 1982 as a volunteer organization. How and why the first language we ever interpreted was Vietnamese. And, many other stories.

This month's topic is our company's hometown of Monterey, California and why Monterey is called "The Language Capital of the World"

Monterey is perhaps best known for its world famous Monterey Bay Aquarium and its close proximity to Pebble Beach Golf Course, but for those who study and teach the world's languages, Monterey is truly where the action is.

Language Line Services is but one language asset of the Monterey Peninsula. To learn more about such educational jewels of California's Central Coast as the Monterey Institute of International Studies, the U.S. Army Defense Language Institute and the Naval Postgraduate School, we invite you to visit the official website of "Monterey, Language Capital of the World" now.

To learn more, see this current article "Monterey urged to flaunt language" and Business Wire press release.

(This article appeared in the healthcare version of "In Other Words")

If you work with patients, or have a colleague or friend who does, you'll want to know about the new Language LineŽ HealthPort technology.

What do you do before the language interpreter arrives?

In this era of YouTubeŽ and all things video, you had to know this unique patient-care solution would soon come to you.

With the exciting, new Language LineŽ HealthPort, hospitals, medical offices and caregivers now have an easy-to-use, software-based solution to communicate with limited English speaking patients - until an interpreter arrives.

Language LineŽ HealthPort lets you easily ask and answer hundreds of questions of your patient or family member, and provide sophisticated instructions both onscreen and in print form in the language your patient clearly understands.

Here's a list of just some of the healthcare professionals who will soon be using the Language LineŽ HealthPort daily:

• Nurses - to communicate with patients throughout the encounter
• Medical assistants - to gather information from patient prior to doctor's examination
• Physicians - to ask specific questions, explain diagnoses, and provide treatment options
• Registration personnel - to collect patient information
• Radiologists - to instruct patient on proper body positioning for X-rays
• Pharmacists - to explain medication instructions
• Phlebotomists - to explain what to expect during blood sample draws
• Technicians - to explain procedures for various other tests
• Discharge staff - to provide discharge instructions
• Finance personnel - to explain and collect financial information

For more information about the Language Line HealthPort, visit http://languageline.com/page/healthport/ and download this product information sheet.

Each month you'll receive our free monthly email newsletter featuring news, tips, interviews, surveys, stats, special offers and other useful information to help you better serve your limited English-speaking customers.

If you have a story idea, drop us a note at newsletter@languageline.com.

Also, if you enjoyed this issue, share it with your colleagues and friends. Just ask them to send us a subscription request to newsletter@languageline.com or visit our website.

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