The language barrier in healthcare creates a huge gap in communication, especially where there is a huge number of people from the Hispanic community coming in for health services. In order to learn more about this issue, on October 13, 2017, I interviewed Mary Kay Rosolie in La Red Health Center on her profession and what she goes through with the majority of her patients being Latinos. Not having the ability to speak Spanish builds a huge barrier in communication. Although Mrs. Rosolie has worked in the medical field for many years, she stated that it is extremely difficult to interact with a Spanish speaking family when they know little to no English. It used to be that when there was no available staff to translate they would have to call
Latino Families in Therapy Second Edition was published in 2014. Celia Jeas Falicov who is a clinical psychologist, author and currently teaching at the University of California in San Diego wrote the book. As the main contributor of the book Celia’s goal is to help others understand the importance of being competent when working with Latino Families and acknowledging that because the families come from a different background than those giving the interventions we must find therapeutic approaches that will benefit the Latino community. Falicov gives great insight to the different Latino communities that we could encounter and successful evidence based practices that can be used such as a meeting place for culture and therapy (MECA).
Who are the clients you interact with Hanna Interpreting services? Non-English speaking healthcare
The executive management staff was 100% white and the support and administrative team were 100% Afrincan American. In a recent survey, only 30% of blacks, 10% of Hispanics and 20% of Asians were very satisfied with their services, compared to 80% of Caucasians. They said they didn’t feel welcomed and nobody understood them. The manager staff had a lot to say back, revealing subconscious racism and bias towards the minority patients, and even toward each other.
When it comes to a patient that does not speak English the first thing we have to do is find someone capable and a professional to translate, complying with all the HIPAA regulations are being taken care of and not violated. Whether it is a live person, over the phone service or if available online. We cannot ask a family member to serve as a translator because we might break the patient confidentiality if the patient does not want anybody knowing his diagnosis and the procedures being done to them. With a deaf patient first we have to find out what is the best way to communicate with the patient if by reading lips always face them forward so they can read our lips, speaking clearly so they can understand a little better what we are trying
As a low-income, first-generation Mexican American/college graduate, my personal identities and experiences uniquely position me to contribute to RFU’s diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts (DEI). Through my journey, I have encountered various challenges and triumphs that have shaped my perspective and deepened my commitment to promoting DEI in healthcare and beyond. My lived experience growing up in an economically disadvantaged and medically underserved community has heightened my awareness of the healthcare disparities and inequities that exist, especially being raised in a traditional Hispanic household. It has fueled my passion to address these issues and advocate for accessible, culturally sensitive, and equitable healthcare.
However, the two mentioned ways to overcoming language barrier in the implementation of anti-discriminatory practice in health and social care, the training of staff on how to communicate better with service users for them to understand is the best. This is because the training encompasses all methods, ways and means that must be considered when communicating with people to ensure that they understand clearly what they have being told. In essence in the training they must have being taught the importance of knowing the clients individually and what is their preferred effective method, means and ways that can be used to communicate with that client. M3
The lack of cultural competency by physicians in health care settings is producing many barriers to health care that is negatively affecting Hispanic families, such as miscommunications, poor adherence to medications and health promotion strategies, and misunderstandings that lead to misdiagnosis or inadequate treatment for Hispanics. This issue is alarming because the Hispanic population makes up roughly 17% of the entire U.S. population, which is a staggering figure that can’t be ignored. Some solutions that have been tried in the past but failed include, establishing more community-based programs to assist this segment of the population, hospitals pushing for prevention programs, and greater efforts by health institutions on training physicians to improve all aspects of communication. Although
It trains health care providers to overcome cultural barriers like communication and language. Cultural competency has the potential to reduce inequities in access to health care services and improve the health status of cultural communities by reducing healthcare disparities. The goal of cultural competency is to provide health care to the community that is respectful of and responsive to the needs of diverse patients. It helps the health care provider to understand the needs of patients while seeking treatment. It helps to patient-provider to meet on common ground in the diagnosis and treatment plan of the disease.
Herban’s thoughtful approach to communication in her work. Her emphasis on building strong relationships with patients and caregivers, tailoring her communication style to meet individual needs, and prioritizing cultural competence are all valuable skills that I hope to incorporate into my own practice. I can also seek out opportunities to collaborate with other professionals to provide comprehensive care. An example of how I can apply her experiences to my future work is by attending cultural competency training to improve my ability to communicate effectively with patients from diverse backgrounds. This training could help me to better understand cultural differences in communication styles and develop strategies to overcome language
This health fair shows the limited contact many of the participants have with the health care system, because majority lack health insurance, and find medical costs unaffordable. Despite the expansion to healthcare through the Affordable Care Act, participants in this study were mostly uninsured, drastically reducing their access to quality health care. Similar to other immigrant groups, barriers that may be responsible for the high rates of uninsured African immigrants include language barriers and health literacy. Some of the participants speak English as a second language; this does not only affect their ability to communicate but also affects their ability to comprehend health or insurance information.(31) Another potential obstacle is that the data on the number of the currently uninsured African immigrants who know about their coverage options is lacking, as earlier mentioned this group is likely categorized as Black or African American.
Communication Counselors working with Latino clients will want to take into considerations possible linguistic complications that make take place (Sue & Sue, 2013). As counselors asses Latino clients, they will want to be diligent to be aware of possible linguistic difference that may occur, that may cause them to unintentionally misdiagnose their client (2013). If the counselor feels as if there is a significant language barrier that will interfere with the counseling session, than it would be advisable for a trained interpreter to be brought in for the sessions, but this too can present its own challenges (2013). Counselors also want to be aware that Latino’s often speak in a circular and figurative manner (Frevert, & Miranda,1998) hence, counselors would want to be careful that they do not interpret communication in a literal or linear manner (1998). When
The Spirit Catches you and you Fall Down” is an astonishing book that reveals the need for improvement of cultural competency in the American healthcare system. This book teaches me the importance of the role of healthcare administrator as a cultural advocate between the patients and the providers. This book also influences me in realizing the differences between patients’ culture and providers’ culture. Moreover, I can relate to Jeanine Hilt, a social worker who truly cares for the Hmong culture and the Lees Family. Healthcare administrators must be aware of the cultures of the population that reside in the region that your facility is located.
Examine how public health organizations and health care providers encourage their employees to gain “cultural competence” beyond being bilingual. First they need to enhance their employee’s self-awareness of attitudes they might have towards different racial and ethnic groups. Second they can improve the care that they give by simply increasing their knowledge about different cultural beliefs and practices. How those groups typical seek health care and the attitudes they have toward health care.
Second, Elizabeth is a first generation Mexican-American, give a birth to a first child in high school, may have inability to complete a proper education might have language barrier. The inability to speak English and unable to communicate effectively, and feeling embarrassed sometimes prevent her from communicating with her physician. HCP must give information and services in patients ' preferred language, including patient access to professional interpreters who have health-related dialect skills and familiar with patient’s cultural competence. The family unit and religion is culturally the most important to the Hispanic community.
Regarding effective communication, “good interpretation and good translation go a long way toward solving cross-cultural communication problems and language barriers in health care” (Dreachslin, Gilbert & Malone, 2013, p. 289). These services, through interpreters or voice-assisted devices, provide better opportunities to blend cultures and understand the tradition and beliefs of diverse populations. These two topics were just samplings of the information discussed, but they stuck out to me on a personal level, while pushing me to promote cultural competence and understanding beyond this course in all my future workplace