Speaking the Language of Health Care–via National Journal
Translation apps and other technology seek to eliminate language barriers for patients uncomfortable with English.
There’s an app for relaying basic medical instructions in Fukienese, a group of dialects spoken in southeastern China. Need a way to help bedridden non-English-speaking patients instantly alert a nurse for assistance? Touch-screen software exists that allows patients to click a pained face—perhaps marked “pain” in Russian—to instantly alert a nurse. Both were created by New York City-based Transcendent Endeavors to improve communication between patients and health care professionals who speak different languages.
But while today’s digital tools can help communicate basic information across language barriers, there’s not yet a digital substitute for a trained medical interpreter or a fully bilingual practitioner. And some experts say that translation apps and other tools can even be dangerous if they lead to incomplete communication.
“The medical encounter is incredibly complex and nuanced,” says Dr. Glenn Flores, director of the general pediatrics division at the University of Texas Southwestern and Children’s Medical Center in Dallas. Patients and doctors need to communicate about the precise nature of symptoms, past medical history, prescriptions, and procedures. “If you just have a simple tablet that asks, do you have pain or not, that’s going to give people a false sense of security,” Flores says. “You’re going to end up putting people at risk.”
These language barriers can make it more difficult for patients to receive effective medical care. People who don’t speak English well are more likely to be hospitalized for prolonged periods or to experience serious medical events while they’re in the hospital, Flores says. Studies show that poor communication can hinder everything from colon-cancer screenings to care for asthmatic children.
Federal law requires all health care facilities that receive federal funding offer language services to patients who need them. Most hospitals accomplish this by relying on a mix on staff interpreters, bilingual staff, outside interpretation agencies, and phone-based services. Yet many facilities don’t do a good job connecting patients with language services. Less than half of patients who need an interpreter say they usually get such assistance, according to 2001 survey from the Commonwealth Fund.
To read more of this article courtesy of National Journal, click the link below.
http://www.nationaljournal.com/next-america/health/speaking-the-language-of-health-care-20140319
Filed under: Language Barriers Tagged: Interpreters in Hospitals, Language Barriers, Language News, Language Technology
