Providers’ Perceptions of Medical Interpreter Services and Limited English Proficiency (LEP) Patients

2014 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 156-169 ◽  
Author(s):  
Barret Michalec ◽  
Kristin M. Maiden ◽  
Jacqueline Ortiz ◽  
Ann V. Bell ◽  
Deborah B. Ehrenthal
Keyword(s):  
Limited English Proficiency ◽  
English Proficiency ◽  
Interpreter Services ◽  
Medical Interpreter

scholarly journals Inpatient Communication Barriers and Drivers When Caring for Limited English Proficiency Children

2019 ◽  
Vol 14 (10) ◽  
Author(s):  
Angela Y Shoe ◽  
Ndidi I Unaka ◽  
Amanda C Schondelmeyer ◽  
Whitney J Raglin Bignall ◽  
Heather L Vilvens ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Context ◽  
Limited English Proficiency ◽  
Service Use ◽  
English Proficiency ◽  
Communication Strategies ◽  
Hospital Medicine ◽  
Effective Communication ◽  
Medical Providers ◽  
Interpreter Services ◽  
Family Centered

BACKGROUND: Achieving effective communication between medical providers and families with limited English proficiency (LEP) in the hospital is difficult. OBJECTIVE: Our objective was to identify barriers to and drivers of effective interpreter service use when caring for hospitalized LEP children from the perspectives of pediatric medical providers and interpreters. DESIGN/ PARTICIPANTS/ SETTING: We used Group Level Assessment (GLA), a structured qualitative participatory method that allows participants to directly produce and analyze data in an interactive group session. Participants from a single academic children’s hospital generated individual responses to prompts and identified themes and relevant action items. Themes were further consolidated by our research team and verified by stakeholder groups. RESULTS: Four GLA sessions were conducted including 64 participants: hospital medicine physicians and pediatric residents (56%), inpatient nursing staff (16%), and interpreter services staff (28%). Barriers identified included: (1) difficulties accessing interpreter services; (2) uncertainty in communication with LEP families; (3) unclear and inconsistent expectations and roles of team members; and (4) unmet family engagement expectations. Drivers of effective communication were: (1) utilizing a team-based approach between medical providers and interpreters; (2) understanding the role of cultural context in providing culturally effective care; (3) practicing empathy for patients and families; and (4) using effective family-centered communication strategies. CONCLUSIONS: Participants identified unique barriers and drivers that impact communication with LEP patients and their families during hospitalization. Future directions include exploring the perspective of LEP families and utilizing team-based and family-centered communication strategies to standardize and improve communication practices.

The Premise and Development of CHECK IN—Check-In for Exchange of Clinical and Key Information to Enhance Palliative Care Discussions for Patients With Limited English Proficiency

2020 ◽  
pp. 104990912097998
Author(s):  
Amelia Barwise ◽  
Mei-Ean Yeow ◽  
Daniel K. Partain
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Limited English Proficiency ◽  
English Proficiency ◽  
Quality Care ◽  
Clinical Information ◽  
Clinical Encounter ◽  
High Quality ◽  
Serious Illness ◽  
Patient Goals ◽  
Medical Interpreter

Communication regarding serious illness is challenging in most circumstances. Patients with Limited English Proficiency (LEP) have unique language and cultural needs that often require collaboration with a trained medical interpreter, especially when the clinical encounter involves serious illness decision making or elucidation of patient goals, preferences, and values. Although there is mounting evidence to support interpreter/clinician huddles before a serious illness communication encounter, no current initiatives exist to operationalize this evidence. We are currently in the process of developing, evaluating, and implementing a formal interpreter/clinician huddle process to promote high quality care for patients with LEP. Our huddle guide, called the Check-In for Exchange of Clinical and Key Information (CHECK-IN), is designed to facilitate collaboration between an interpreter and clinician during a serious illness encounter by prompting exchange of relevant sociocultural and clinical information between clinicians and interpreters.

scholarly journals Developing an Electronic Search Strategy Algorithm for Detecting Professional Interpreter Use among Patients with Limited English Proficiency: A Derivation and Validation Study

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jalal Soleimani ◽  
Alberto Marquez ◽  
Timothy Weister ◽  
Amelia Barwise
Keyword(s):  
Limited English Proficiency ◽  
Chart Review ◽  
Search Strategy ◽  
English Proficiency ◽  
High Sensitivity ◽  
Interpreter Services ◽  
Interpreter Use ◽  
Specificity And Sensitivity ◽  
Professional Interpreter ◽  
Time Required

Abstract Background Evidence exists that disparities occur for patients with Limited English Proficiency (LEP) that impact the quality of medical services, outcomes, and patient satisfaction. Using interpreter services can reduce these negative impacts; therefore optimizing our understanding of interpreter use during patient care is important. Manual chart review is time-consuming. The objective of this study was to develop and validate a search strategy algorithm to detect patients who used professional interpreter services during their hospitalization. Methods We identified all adults who were admitted to the hospital who had at least one Intensive Care Units (ICU) admission during the hospital stay across the Mayo Clinic Enterprise between January 1, 2015, and June 30, 2020. Three random subsets of 100 patients were extracted from 60,268 patients admitted to an ICU to develop the search strategy algorithm. A physician reviewer conducted the gold standard manual chart review and these results were compared with the search strategy algorithm each time it was refined. Iterative modification of the search strategy was performed and sensitivity and specificity were calculated by comparing the results to the reference standard for both derivation cohorts and the final validation cohort. Any uncertainties were resolved by a second physician researcher. Results The first search strategy resulted in a specificity of 95.7% and a sensitivity of 93.5%. The second revised search strategy achieved a specificity of 96.7% and a sensitivity of 92.3%. The final version of the search strategy was applied to the validation subset and specificity and sensitivity were 92.6% and 100% respectively. Conclusion We successfully derived and validated a search strategy algorithm to assess interpreter use among hospitalized patients. Developing a search strategy algorithm with a high sensitivity can reduce the time required to abstract data from the medical record compared to manual chart review. This can be used to examine and understand patient needs for research and quality improvement initiatives.

Why do we not use trained interpreters for all patients with limited English proficiency? Is there a place for using family members?

2011 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
pp. 240 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ben Gray ◽  
Jo Hilder ◽  
Hannah Donaldson
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Limited English Proficiency ◽  
English Proficiency ◽  
Health Centre ◽  
Family Members ◽  
Primary Care Settings ◽  
Large Populations ◽  
Interpreter Service ◽  
Medical Interpreter ◽  
The Ideal

Australia and New Zealand both have large populations of people with limited English proficiency (LEP). Australia’s free telephone interpreter service, which is also used by New Zealand through Language Line (LL) but at a cost to the practices, is underused in both countries. Interpreter guidelines warn against the use of family members, yet the lack of uptake of interpreter services must mean that they are still often used. This paper reviews the literature on medical interpreter use and reports the results of a week-long audit of interpreted consultations in an urban New Zealand primary health centre with a high proportion of refugee and migrant patients. The centre’s (annualised) tally of professionally interpreted consultations was three times more than that of LL consultations by all other NZ practices put together. Despite this relatively high usage, 49% of all interpreted consultations used untrained interpreters (mostly family), with more used in ‘on-the-day’ (OTD) clinics. Clinicians rated such interpreters as working well 88% of the time in the OTD consultations, and 36% of the time in booked consultations. An in-house interpreter (28% of consultations) was rated as working well 100% of the time. Telephone interpreters (21% of consultations) received mixed ratings. The use of trained interpreters is woefully inadequate and needs to be vigorously promoted. In primary care settings where on-going relationships, continuity and trust are important – the ideal option (often not possible) is an in-house trained interpreter. The complexity of interpreted consultations needs to be appreciated in making good judgements when choosing the best option to optimise communication and in assessing when there may be a place for family interpreting. This paper examines the elements of making such a judgement.

Serving Children With Limited English Proficiency in the Schools

1994 ◽  
Vol 25 (3) ◽  
pp. 156-164 ◽  
Author(s):  
Celeste A. Roseberry-McKibbin ◽  
Glenn E. Eicholtz
Keyword(s):  
Limited English Proficiency ◽  
English Proficiency

Assessment and Intervention for Children With Limited English Proficiency and Language Disorders

1994 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 77-88 ◽  
Author(s):  
Celeste Roseberry-McKibbin
Keyword(s):  
Public Schools ◽  
Limited English Proficiency ◽  
English Proficiency ◽  
Language Disorders ◽  
Speech Language Pathologists ◽  
Academic Difficulties ◽  
Language Differences ◽  
Language Impaired ◽  
Number Of Children ◽  
Assessment And Treatment

The number of children with limited English proficiency (LEP) in U.S. public schools is growing dramatically. Speech-language pathologists increasingly receive referrals from classroom teachers for children with limited English proficiency who are struggling in school. The speech-language pathologists are frequently asked to determine if the children have language disorders that may be causing or contributing to their academic difficulties. Most speech-language pathologists are monolingual English speakers who have had little or no coursework or training related to the needs of LEP children. This article discusses practical, clinically applicable ideas for assessment and treatment of LEP children who are language impaired, and gives suggestions for distinguishing language differences from language disorders in children with limited English proficiency.

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