PASS project – National course of transcultural mediation

Rome, 12-16 October 2009
NIHMP Conference Hall

Pass project aims at promoting migrants’ access to health care services and developing information and advice activities in Italian local health services and hospitals. The project is supported by the Ministry of Labour, Health and Social Policies; it is managed by NIHMP, which coordinates the activity of the participating 48 local health care structures.
Pass started in February 2009 and it lasts 18 months. It aims at specializing 96 health care transcultural mediators. Common criteria have been established for attendants’ selection: foreign origin, past migratory experience, command of the Italian language, knowledge of the Italian health care system, residence on the Italian territory for more than 4 years. There are 10 national coordination centres supervising the activity of the 48 partners. These centres were selected for their geographical position, or because they provide specialized services for migrants.
The project schedules a theory part, the “National course of transcultural medicine”, and an on-the-job training to be carried out in the participating local health services. Non-participating Regions will be involved in the subsequent phases of the project.

SCHEDULED ACTIVITIES
Pass provides a theory part and a practical training.
The first part is a 400-hour training course, the “National course of transcultural mediation”, dealing with themes related to health care mediation; it provides:
- a 200-hour theory part (40 hours at NIHMP and 160 hours at the local coordination centres);
- a 200-hour apprenticeship in the partner structures, attendants will be tutored by an expert cultural mediator.
The second part of the project provides a 6-month on-the-job training in the involved health care structures.