How Language Differences Impact HCP-Patient Interactions
Student’s Name
Institution
Abstract
The United States of America is at the forefront in ensuring that its citizens have access to the excellent care that takes into account their safety and other positive outcomes. However, this dream is still unattainable due to several factors, such as immigration levels. As a result, the population consists of culturally diverse people and professionals in all sectors. These differences are also evident in the health care industry as they result in language barriers that prohibit sufficient care delivery. Communication challenges result in many patients reporting high-stress levels due to treatment procedures. On the other hand, medical practitioners are more prone to make errors. Patients are unable to effectively relay how they are feeling as per their body signs and symptoms. Such occurrences prevent physicians from making the right diagnosis and following the client’s treatment progress. Fortunately, several steps and strategies are essential in mitigating the effects of language barriers. Hospitals need to focus on employing or training bilingual staff. There should also be an implementation of effective policies to manage issues with medical terms’ translations. Most importantly, health care should include technological advancements in its delivery.
Keywords: Language barriers, migration, health care, patients, Health Care Practitioners
How Language Differences Impact HCP-Patient Interactions
Patient-centered care is one of the leading health care goals for many institutions. However, hospitals receive patients from a wide range of cultures and social stratification. One way in which clients vary is in the language they speak. Factors such as migration and lack of interpreters contribute to this in that both the Health Care Practitioner (HCP) and patients may not be fluent in a majority language. As a result, their communication and relationship face imminent challenges. Other health care disparities hinder treatment procedures, but it is important to note that language differences result in their fair share of damages. Communication difficulties in the United States’ health system inhibit medication by increasing psychological stress and potential errors that may be life-threatening and hence poor health outcomes.
As highlighted above, factors like migration mean that the parties and medical practitioners are bound to have unique cultural backgrounds. Many people move out of their countries in search of greener pastures, among other factors. As a result, their new location ends up consisting of people from diverse backgrounds. These variances range from the education system to how hospitals offer their services. The differences extend when the clinician fails to master an ideal way of presenting a patient’s diagnosis (Meuter et al., 2015). This error correlates with the power differences between the two parties. These social dynamics may inhibit proper communication. Culture means that the patient may have varied ways of reflecting on their pain or general conditions and thus limiting treatment efforts. Societal beliefs also affect service delivery. For instance, some cultures may have preconceived ideas that females are insubordinate to males. Correspondingly, patients from these communities may fail to communicate with a female physician out of ignorance and adherence to their customs. In other cases, the society members are inhibited from talking about specific issues and thus may shy away from highlighting their wellbeing to their caregivers. This inhibitor may occur even when people have a high language competency. How people address one another and the syntax features they use to have a significant impact on the level of understanding. Most importantly, the Communication Accommodation Theory (CAT) infers that people develop different behaviors depending on whom they are communicating with. Further, the responder needs to attune to the message sender. In the health care context, patients only communicate when they feel it is efficient. As a result, they speak in a manner that gets the HCPs’ approval rather than help in improving their health status. This behavior results in a communication barrier. Additionally, many individuals assume that the difference in interaction is often intentional and thus take it up negatively. Consequently, the HCP and patient will need the services of an interpreter who may be absent due to the costs involved. Additionally, such services may be limited as there are no interpretations for all medical terminologies. This malfunction is mostly evident for ad hoc translators such as friends and family members. According to Ali and Watson (2018), there may be worst-case scenarios in which patients may be in terrible pain such that an interpreter may be inefficient in highlighting their conditions.
Poor communication between the HCP and the patient increases the likelihood of adverse outcomes (Meuter et al., 2015). The clients may fail to follow simple instructions or delay treatment, thus worsening their conditions (De Moissac & Bowen, 2018). In case a patient misses their appointment, the nurse cannot adequately explain the medication procedure (Ali & Watson, 2018). Many caregivers believe that patients are in no capacity to handle their medication without directions from a professional. Language barriers mean that the patients may incorrectly state how they feel, resulting in an overdose or underdose of medication. Alternatively, there are also situations where the patient needs to make use of various medical equipment, such as procedures requiring the collection of body fluids. Any errors in the measurements may inhibit the type of treatment provided and expected outcomes. Moreover, these barriers affect the level of confidentiality of patient information as well as informed consent. The situation becomes worse, especially for chronic illnesses (De Moissac & Bowen, 2018). In these cases, follow up becomes difficult as the relationship between the HCPs and patients is damaged. The ultimate result is more patients seeking emergency services and an increase in disease prevalence. Such scenarios mean that the hospital admission rate rises as well. It is, therefore, essential that effective strategies are adopted to address this disparity. Medical practitioners need to follow particular steps in addressing the patient and their concerns. They have the task of ensuring that they understand the situation and its specificity.
One of the necessary steps is enrolling HCP in training classes, especially for the dominant languages in a particular community. The services of an interpreter are crucial in providing the necessary assistance, but the bilingual staff is more efficient in addressing the patient’s needs. Such programs help in saving time, minimizing errors, and offering effective care. The hospital administration should focus its efforts on convergence strategies that seek to limit the ideological differences between HCPs and their clients. It is, however, essential to understanding the language capacity of the institution before deciding to train employees. Such initiatives are bound to disrupt the staff from their routine roles. Hospitals must make use of coordinators to assist in the training and assessment of the hospital. If the facility has to use a translator, they need to strictly follow the specified guidelines provided by the National Council for Interpreters in Healthcare (NCIH). An agency specialized in medical communications can facilitate outsourcing needs. The hospital administrators can also phone such companies in case of emergencies for a quick response to situations. Additionally, technology can be integrated with health care systems to reduce the effects of language barriers. HCPs should adopt essentials like Google Translate to understand what their client needs are. According to the Journal of Nursing (2020), the digitalization of systems can play an essential role in providing patients with a platform to engage in the health care delivery system actively. This action is, however, constrained due to inadequate resources allocated to health care. Moreover, the patient may be stressed over the treatment process when they cannot directly communicate with their caregiver.
Apart from the use of bilingual staff and translators, policymaking should be participative such that medical practitioners are allowed to highlight how these challenges affect their service delivery and the solutions that should be in place. There needs collaboration between various organizations to aid in the establishment of standard symbols that can serve as illustrators of patient information regardless of their background. These signs should be evident in maps, the hospital designs, and the integration of colors to symbolize different objects. Additionally, hospital managers need to channel investments in simple reading materials for the patients. The information reflected in the materials ought to be relevant, timely, and accurate to have more value to the client. In many cases, an institution may use brochures to translate their services, but a knowledge audience may be unable to decode the information. These strategies should be unique for each institution to enhance efficiency.
Language challenges in the provision of health care result in psychological stress among patients and increase the likelihood of medical errors that are often avoidable. These barriers occur from factors such as migration and the existence of varied cultures. As a result, many individuals may find themselves unable to communicate in the dominant dialect. HCPs and patients face many challenges due to language problems. Clients are often unable to express their wellbeing, understand the treatment procedures, and follow instructions. Consequently, medical practitioners cannot offer patient-centered care as their roles are limited. Most of them end up making the wrong diagnosis due to errors, delaying treatment, and imminent follow up of the patient’s progress. Despite these impacts, there are many ways to address language barriers. Health institutions need to adjust their budgetary allocations to cover up the costs of training their staff and hiring translators to meet patient demands. Alternatively, they can outsource interpretation services. Additionally, technology is essential in improving the excellence of care through patient involvement and tools like Google Translate. Most importantly, the relevant organization should together to develop policies that address language barriers in health care settings. As such, HCPs will meet patient needs despite their backgrounds and other social stratifications.
References
Ali, P. A., & Watson, R. (2018). Language barriers and their impact on provision of care to patients with limited English proficiency: Nurses’ perspectives. Journal of Clinical Nursing, 27(5-6), e1152-e1160.
De Moissac, D., & Bowen, S. (2019). Impact of language barriers on quality of care and patient safety for official language minority francophones in Canada. Journal of Patient Experience, 6(1), 24-32.
Journal of Nursing. (2020). Impact of Language Barriers on Patient Safety. Retrieved April 14, 2020, from http://rn-journal.com/journal-of-nursing/impact-of-language-barriers-on-patient-safety
Meuter, R. F., Gallois, C., Segalowitz, N. S., Ryder, A. G., & Hocking, J. (2015). Overcoming language barriers in healthcare: a protocol for investigating safe and effective communication when patients or clinicians use a second language. BMC health services research, 15(1), 371.