Language Barrier and Its Relation with Health Care - Coursework Example

Language barrier and its relation with health care Language barrier and its relation with health care America is an extremely diverse country in terms of culture. Moreover, it is the wealthiest country in the world at present. A lot of people from all over the world are immigrating to America every day because of the higher living standard offered by this country. Even though diversity in culture is definitely polishing the secular face of America, it is often causing some problems also. One of the major problems caused by cultural diversity is in the effective delivery of healthcare. Ding and Hargraves (2009) pointed out that immigrants who have a language barrier were more stressed, than others. In their opinion, the combined effect of stress and a language barrier may lead towards poor health in among them. According to Perkins (1999, p.38), “Overcoming language barriers to health care is critical to the well-being of millions of immigrants in the United States today. About 32 million people in this country, 13.8 percent of the population, speak a language other than English at home”. Moreover, many of the healthcare professionals working in American hospitals are from overseas countries. A lot of the doctors and nurses from India and Pakistan like countries are working in American hospitals at present. Many of these healthcare professionals have lack of proficiency in English language. As a result of that Americans struggle a lot in conveying their healthcare problems properly to the healthcare professionals. In short, language barrier is causing many problems in the proper healthcare delivery in America. This paper analyses the relationship with healthcare and language barrier. Role of language in delivering healthcare In central North Carolina, Hispanic residents have complained that they must wait longer than non-Hispanic residents to receive treatment from the local health department. When these residents do receive care, family members or unqualified health department employees translate during the visit, or they are asked to pay for each fifteen minutes of interpreting (Perkins, 1999, p.39). Many of the expatriates in America do not have fluency in English language. When they visit hospitals where only local doctors and nurses are working, they may face many problems in communication. It should be noted that it is necessary to provide a clear picture about the problems facing the by the patient in order to help the doctor in the diagnosis process. However, many of the Hispanics do not have enough knowledge in English language and they forced to seek help from interpreters. Interpreters on the other hand are keen in exploiting this situation. They charge heavy fees for each interpretation sessions. As a result of that poor Hispanic patients were forced to convey their problems to the doctor in an unclear language. This situation creates many problems to the doctor in deciding the actual disease of the patient. “Whereas it is recognised that interpreting services are generally inadequate and inappropriate reliance is placed on family members to interpret, little is known about how nurses working in primary care utilise interpreters to overcome language barriers” (Gerrish et al., 2004, p.407). Majority of the nurses working in American hospitals are from expatriate community. In fact America is facing severe manpower shortage in nursing profession at present. As a result of that the country is importing manpower from other countries, especially in healthcare institutions. It should be noted that a non-native speaking patient would convey his/her problems first to the interpreter and the interpreter convey those problems to the nurses. Nurses on the other hand convey these messages to the doctor. In other words, a message intended to the doctor from the patient goes through many hands before it arrives to the doctor. As a result of that, the final message delivered to the doctor might be different from the one originated from the patient. This situation may force the doctor to make wrong decisions about the treatment of the patient. “Language barriers between patient and physician impact upon effective health care”(David and Rhee, 1998). Ondash (2014) mentioned that “less than one-fourth of all hospitals have interpreters, and most have not received formal training. Part of the reason for the low compliance rate is that the federal legislation requiring interpreters is an unfunded mandate which has left the matter of how to pay for translation services a matter of dispute”. Even though interpreter service is mandatory in American hospitals, many of the hospitals in America do not have this facility. In fact many of the hospital authorities are unaware of this statutory requirement. Since the interpreter service is intended for the expatriate patients, American government is not bothered too much in implementing this statutory requirement forcefully. As a result of that many of the American hospitals are able to function without employing the interpreters. Some of the other major problems related to the lack of interpreter services in American hospitals are given below; Patients are unable to access eligible services or programs, understand informed consent and advance directives, and comply with requests of a medical provider. Productivity of medical professionals is affected. There is increased frustration for provider and patient. Patients’ faith in the hospital’s staff and programs decreases. Opportunities to reach communities on important health issues are lost. Hidden costs due to unnecessary testing, diagnostics, over-prescribing and repeat visits result (Ondash (2014). Informed consent is essential for treating some specific diseases. For example, before conducting a surgery, the patient should give the consent to the doctor for performing that surgery. The patient has the right to know all the dimensions of his diseases and the complexities involved in the treatment. Ultimately, the patient decides whether he/she should undergo a complex medical procedure or not. In order to take such decisions, the patient should know his/her conditions exactly. Language problems often prevent the expatriate patients from getting proper information about their health conditions from the doctor. Productivity of healthcare or medical profession depends on how soon the healthcare professionals will be able to deliver the services. In some critical healthcare problems, timely delivery of the healthcare is extremely important. If the communication between the patients and the healthcare professionals are improper, quick delivery of healthcare is often impractical. As a result of that the patient may face many problems. Moreover, the delay in getting proper services may destroy the relationship between the patient and the healthcare professionals. Schyve (2007, p.360) stressed the importance of effective communication with patients in delivering effective healthcare. In his opinion, the barriers to this communication include differences in language, cultural differences, and low health literacy. Even though English is an international language, the accent and vocabulary of this language is different in different countries. For example, the accent of Americans is entirely different from that of the British. Moreover, many of the words used in American English and British English have different spellings and meanings. Therefore, an expatriate patient who has adequate knowledge in British English may struggle to convey his problems effectively to an American doctor. “Because much of medical care is really information management, this communication between treatment team members and the patient and patient’s family is a core component of health care—it is more than an adjunct or facilitator of health care” Schyve (2007, p.361). “To be health literate in the US, one needs to be able to effectively apply a variety of skills to accomplish health-related tasks that are often very demanding. Skills include reading and writing in English; speaking and listening in English; numerical computing; critical thinking; and decision making” (Singleton and Krause, 2009). In other words, language is extremely important in making a patient or person health literate. Even if a person has sound knowledge about his health conditions, there is no use for this knowledge if he fails to communicate his health problems properly to the healthcare professionals. It should be noted that the decisions about the treatment is taken by the doctor rather than the patient. In order to take appropriate decisions, the doctor requires as much as details about the problem or disease from the patient. Culture and language affect how patients acquire and apply these skills in health situations. While applying these skills, one must be able to move with some comfort between one’s own cultural values and beliefs and those of the dominant healthcare system, which in this article is the U.S. healthcare system. One also needs familiarity with the technical, jargon-rich, biomedical vocabulary used in the English-speaking U.S. healthcare system. The following sections explore some of the necessary health literacy skills and their interconnection with cultural and linguistic skills needed by culturally diverse patients. Conclusions Communication between the patient and the healthcare professional is important in delivering proper care to the patient. Many of the expatriates staying in America have poor English language skills. As a result of that, they are struggling to convey their health problems properly to the doctors. Even though the services of an interpreter in mandatory in American hospitals many of the American hospitals have not employed interpreters yet. As a result of that, many of the patients from expatriate community are struggling to get proper care from American hospitals. The government should implement the services of interpreter strictly in all American hospitals to help the expatriate community in getting adequate healthcare from hospitals. References Ding H and Hargraves L. (2009). Stress-associated poor health among adult immigrants with a language barrier in the United States. J Immigr Minor Health. 2009 Dec;11(6):446-52. doi: 10.1007/s10903-008-9200-0. Epub 2008 Oct 21. David, R.A. and Rhee, M. (1998). The Impact of Language as a Barrier to Effective Health Care in an Underserved Urban Hispanic Community Division of General Medicine, Department of Medicine, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, NY. OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 1998 NUMBER 5 & 6 VOLUME 65:393-397 Gerrish K, Chau R, Sobowale A, and Birks E. (2004). Bridging the language barrier: the use of interpreters in primary care nursing. Health Soc Care Community. 2004 Sep;12(5):407-13 Ondash, E. (2014). Overcoming Language Barriers Faced in Health Care. Retrieved from http://nursezone.com/Nursing-News-Events/more-features.aspx?ID=18135 Perkins, J. (1999). Overcoming Language Barriers to Health Care. Popular Government. Fall 1999 Schyve, P.M. (2007). Language Differences as a Barrier to Quality and Safety in Health Care: The Joint Commission Perspective. J Gen Intern Med. Nov 2007; 22(Suppl 2): 360–361. Singleton, K. and Krause, E., (2009) "Understanding Cultural and Linguistic Barriers to Health Literacy" OJIN: The Online Journal of Issues in Nursing. Vol. 14, No. 3, Manuscript 4. Read More