Using Cognitive Work Analysis to Design Communication Support Tools for Patients with Language Barriers

Patients with language barriers face healthcare disparities associated with access to care, satisfactions with care, and the quality and safety of the care they receive. The central solution to addressing these barriers is through the use of professional interpreters but there are difficulties associated with consistently using these services. This study used cognitive work analysis to identify the goals, constraints and affordances associated with patient communication to develop support requirements for communicating with patients with language barriers. Specific communication support objectives discovered included: supporting various cultural background and levels of health literacy, identifying when information is not properly conveyed, and providing a means to convey the information in a different way to allow for subsequent checks in understanding. These objectives can be utilized as inputs for the development of tools to support communication with patients with language barriers.