in one case, the misinterpretation of a single word led to a patient's delayed care and preventable quadriplegia.1 A Spanish-speaking 18-year-old had stumbled into his girlfriend's home, told her he was “intoxicado,” and collapsed. When the girlfriend and her mother repeated the term, the non–Spanish-speaking paramedics took it to mean “intoxicated”; the intended meaning was “nauseated.” After more than 36 hours in the hospital being worked up for a drug overdose, the comatose patient was reevaluated and given a diagnosis of intracerebellar hematoma with brain-stem compression and a subdural hematoma secondary to a ruptured artery. (NJEM, 2006)This is an extremely serious situation that changed the course of the 18-year-old's life. Although there are medical interpreters, they are not used as often they should be. In one study, it was found that in 46 percent of emergency cases involving patients that were not proficient in English, interpreters were not used. This can be very dangerous, especially if the patient is describing symptoms to the doctor. If the patient's symptoms are described incorrectly because of a language barrier, it could lead to an improper diagnosis, as well as an incorrect treatment.
Although there are dire circumstances, as stated above, there are also less serious effects of language barriers in medical situations that have the ability to become serious. If a patient has a language barrier, they are less likely to visit a doctor regularly, and more likely to not follow medicine directions correctly. Each of these effects causes the quality of care for an individual with a language barrier to be much less satisfactory. Most importantly, not going to a doctor regularly causes them to miss out on preventative care. In order to overcome this boundary, translators must be much more prevalent in the medical profession. This can be difficult as there are a multitude of languages that need to be translated, however, in this day and age it is easy to talk to people on the other side of the world. So, it would be beneficial to the health of those not proficient in English to have a translator, whether online or in person, present with them anytime they are in a medical setting. Although it would cost extra money, in some cases it could save a life.
References:
http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp058316
https://www.amnhealthcare.com/latest-healthcare-news/language-barriers-increase-risk-adverse-events-effects/
Communication errors cause a fair deal of medical issues and I can’t imagine how much harder it is when there is a language barrier in place. I kind of can’t believe how often care is given when health care responders don’t understand the language that the patient or their families are speaking. That seems like asking for an issue.
ReplyDeleteI think your idea to fix this communication problem is interesting. It could work but if it is too expensive it is unlikely that it will be implemented widely. It might be more effective to encourage hospitals that see large numbers of non-English proficient speakers to hire interpreters or to have medical personnel take language courses to improve communication.
ReplyDeleteSuch an awesome topic to bring to life. Volunteering at UCMC, I have seen and experiences language barriers first-hand. It is a frustrating thing, for both medical professional and patient, especially if that patient is in extreme pain or discomfort. I do know that they have these blue phones that are used regularly, having a three-way conversation with a translator on one of the ends. Great post!
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ReplyDeleteI think that it is interesting in the context of English being the "universal" second language in the world. Statistically, for non-English speaking tourists and visitors the United States would be the most favorable country in this sense, since English is the most spoken second language in the world. In many countries like France, for example, people don't speak English at all, and that may be very problematic.
ReplyDeleteI agree, it is essential to be able to communicate your symptoms, your medical history or simply hear your doctor's calming words.
This is a very interesting topic because just last week, I had a patient in the hospital who was Ethiopian. He knew English, but he was more proficient in his primary language, Amharic, which is the main language in Ethiopia. At times, I could see the patient struggling to know the meaning of certain words. Thankfully, his daughter was there for a period time where she could help translate words to Amharic. However, every patient doesn't have the luxury of having a personal translator available to them so hospitals have to make it a priority to find a translator for each patient that needs one.
ReplyDeleteMiscommunication is the root of many evils. Many people stress the point of being honest to your doctor, as any possible embarrassment is not worth the life threatening risks. It is interesting that the same problems exist in the range of language barriers that is not being addressed in similar ways. The idea of having translators on site is an excellent solution. It wouldn't add that much to the cost of the hospital, especially when compared to overall expenditure. And it could help to save a persons life.
ReplyDeleteVery interesting and saddening post. Miscommunication happens across every profession, but it's most detrimental, in my opinion, in the healthcare professions. It's sad to think that patients aren't receiving the best care possible simply because their needs aren't being met due to language barriers. As a nursing student, patient-centered care and advocation for each patient is a priority, so more professionals need to step out and ask for help if they aren't comfortable or cannot interpret what their patients are saying. Maybe taking a basic language course for popular symptoms and signs could help begin to fix it, especially if a serious case were to present itself. I am working towards a spanish minor, but I still don't know if I would feel comfortable using my knowledge to treat the patient as many medical-related terms are left out of the coursework. It's definitely a situation that needs to be corrected.
ReplyDeleteI've experienced this first hand at Good Samaritan with a Spanish speaking individual and at the moment I wish I knew how to speak it. I think it is important to have a wide diversity of languages spoken in a hospital setting, especially an emergency room setting, when time is most important. I feel like a human that speaks a different language can be more effective/faster than any computer system.
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