scholarly journals Interpreting services provided during consultations in the medical sector : identifying shortcomings

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Thabani Robert Khumalo
Keyword(s):  
Limited English Proficiency ◽  
Ad Hoc ◽  
Language Barriers ◽  
Medical Setting ◽  
Medical Practitioners ◽  
Medical Sector ◽  
Medical Institutions ◽  
Medical Interpreting ◽  
English Speaking ◽  
The Difference

The study focuses on the interpreting services provided during consultations in the medical setting. It looks broadly at the communication deficiencies created by the difference in the languages spoken by both medical practitioners and patients during consultations. Several times, the researcher’s personal experience has shown that isiZulu speaking patients are frequently consulted by English speaking doctors whenever they visit medical institutions. Consequently, as a result of this situation, these isiZulu speaking patients with limited English proficiency find it difficult to fully express all their medical conditions to the English speaking doctors and vice versa due to the existing language barriers. These language barriers are most likely to give rise to inferior medical assistance to isiZulu speaking patients. Furthermore, the nurses find themselves being ad hoc interpreters in this regard based on the assumption that they are bilingual. However, their linguistic and interpreting ability are not considered. The study therefore investigates the possible shortcomings and also looks at the implications most likely to occur as a result of reluctance to provide professional medical interpreting services. The data is collected from medical practitioners (doctors and nurses) and patients. From the results obtained, the researcher suggests possible recommendations in order to address the identified shortcomings. Lolu cwaningo lumayelana nokutolika ezikhungweni zezempilo. Lugxile ekubhekeni izinkinga zokuxhumna ngokolimi ngenxa yokwehluka kwezilimi ezikhulunywa abasebenzi bezempilo kanye neziguli uma zize ezikhungweni zezempilo. Umcwaningi usebone izikhawu eziningi ukuthi uma iziguli ezikhuluma ulimi lwesiZulu ziya ezikhungweni zezempilo zivame ukusizwa odokotela abakhuluma isiNgisi. Ngenxa yalesi simo , iziguli ezingasazi kahle isiNgisi ziyehluleka ukuchazela odokotela ngokuphelele izinkinga zazo zezempilo, kanjanlo nodokotela bayehluleka ukuxhumana kahle nazo. Lezi zinkinga zokuxhumana, zingaba nomthelela omubi wokuthi iziguli ezikhuluma isiZulu zingatholi usizo olugculisayo lwezempilo. Ngenxa yalesi simo, abahlengikazi bagcina bezithola sebengotolika ngenxa yokuthi kucatshangelwa ukuthi bayakwazi ukukhuluma izilimi zombili. Akube kusabhekwa ukuthi bazazi kangakanani izilimi lezo kanye nokuthi bayakwazi yini ukutolika. Ucwaningo lubheka izingqinamba ezikhona kanye nezingenzeka ngenxa yokungahlinzekwa ngokutolika okusezingeni elifanele ezikhungweni zezempilo futhi kungahlinzekwa abantu abaqeqeshiwe. Imininingwane yokwenza lolu cwaningo iqoqwe kubasebenzi bezempilo (odokotela kanye nabahlengikazi) kanye neziguli. Umcwaningi ube esenza izincomo ezingasiza ukuqeda izinkinga ezitholakele emuva kokuba esethole imiphumela.

Spanish for the Audiologist: Is There an App for That?

2015 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
pp. 122-128 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rosa Abreu ◽  
Terry Adriatico
Keyword(s):  
Limited English Proficiency ◽  
Ad Hoc ◽  
Language Barriers ◽  
The United States ◽  
Census Bureau ◽  
Mobile App ◽  
Time Translation ◽  
Number Of Patients ◽  
Pediatric Populations ◽  
Available Technology

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the number of people, 5 years of age and older speaking a language other than English at home has more than doubled within the last three decades. Spanish speakers are prominent in these numbers. Additionally, 41% report speaking English less than “very well.” We can surmise from this data that a significant number of patients/families seeking hearing health services from audiologists may have limited English proficiency or a language barrier. In contrast, according to ASHA demographics, the majority of audiologists in the United States are monolingual and speak primarily English.Audiology, a discipline with communication at its heart, is in a distinctive position to continue to provide high-quality, accessible, culturally sensitive services, regardless of language barriers. Ten audiologists in northern NJ volunteered to try a real time translation mobile app (Google Translate App) and document their experiences with the use of this tool with their Spanish-speaking patients/families. Results suggest that a mobile translation app may be a viable option to address language barriers in the audiology practice when professional and/or ad-hoc interpreters are not available. Technology driven solutions can then be applied to customize the translation apps to the specific needs of the audiology practice (e.g., vernacular used in adult vs. pediatric populations, or vestibular vs. rehabilitation terminology). Healthcare literacy is also addressed in the content of patient education and cultural competence.

scholarly journals Visibility of Chinese ad hoc medical interpreters through text ownership: A case study

2021 ◽  
Vol 20 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wei Zhang ◽  
Cui Xu
Keyword(s):  
Ad Hoc ◽  
Medical Setting ◽  
Doctor Patient Communication ◽  
Audio Recordings ◽  
Medical Discourses ◽  
Proper Training ◽  
Medical Interpreters ◽  
Medical Interpreting ◽  
Clinical Risks

Professional interpreters’ visibility in the European context has been widely discussed in the field of community interpreting, but the visibility of untrained ad hoc interpreters in non-European contexts such as China has received little academic attention. By adopting the concept of “text ownership” proposed by Angelelli (2004a), this study examines Chinese ad hoc interpreters’ manifestations of visibility in an authentic medical setting. Based on field observations, audio recordings and interviews, the study reports on four types of visibility demonstrated by ad hoc interpreters: (a) replacing the interlocutor; (b) expressing affect towards a patient; (c) exploring answers; and (d) brokering comprehension. Other forms of visibility are also identified, such as omissions of doctors’ or patients’ remarks and small talk between doctor and interpreter. Interpreters’ deeply held views on social factors as well as the institutional and social norms they have been exposed to are believed to influence their manipulation of medical discourses. This study concludes that in a context where professional medical interpreting services are unavailable, ad hoc interpreters may act as linguistic facilitators by taking on various roles that go beyond mere interpreting. However, their excessive visibility may give rise to potential clinical risks, especially when direct doctor–patient communication is compromised. Attention is drawn to the importance of proper training as well as to the need for the professionalization of medical interpreting in China.

scholarly journals Overcoming Language Barriers between Interventionists and Immigrant Parents of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nataly Lim ◽  
Mark O'Reilly ◽  
Fabiola Vargas Londono ◽  
Adrienne Russell-George
Keyword(s):  
Instructional Strategies ◽  
Limited English Proficiency ◽  
Language Barriers ◽  
Children With Autism ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Immigrant Parents ◽  
Video Prompting ◽  
Baseline Design ◽  
English Speaking ◽  
Treatment Gains

This study used a video prompting intervention to overcome language barriers between English-speaking trainers and Spanish-speaking immigrant parents of children with autism. Parents were taught instructional strategies targeting independent dressing. A multiple baseline design across three families and a replication using an alternating treatments design with a fourth family were used to evaluate the effects of the intervention. All mothers reached mastery criterion and generalization of instructional strategies was observed for three mothers, with treatment gains maintaining during follow-up. Improvements in independent dressing skills was observed for four children. Findings suggest that video prompting can be used to teach immigrant parents of children with autism who have limited English proficiency when there is a language mismatch between parents and trainers.

Assessing Medical Student Readiness to Navigate Language Barriers in Telehealth: A Cross-Sectional Survey Study (Preprint)

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leena Yin ◽  
Fiona Ng ◽  
Mateo Rutherford-Rojas ◽  
Mia William ◽  
Susannah Cornes ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Medical Students ◽  
Limited English Proficiency ◽  
Diabetes Management ◽  
Barriers To Care ◽  
Language Barriers ◽  
Survey Study ◽  
Lifestyle Modifications ◽  
Cross Sectional Survey ◽  
English Speaking ◽  
The U.S

BACKGROUND The COVID-19 pandemic has massively increased telehealth usage in the U.S. Patients with limited English proficiency (LEP) face barriers to healthcare, which may be mitigated when providers work with professional interpreters. However, telemedicine may exacerbate disparities if clinicians are not trained to work with interpreters in that setting. Although medical students are now involved in telehealth on an unprecedented scale, no educational innovations have been published that focus on digital care across language barriers. OBJECTIVE To investigate advanced medical students’ confidence in caring for patients with LEP during telehealth encounters. METHODS We administered a written survey to medical students on clinical clerkships in one U.S.-based institution between August to September 2020. We assessed students’ overall confidence in working with interpreters; confidence in performing eight clinical tasks in in-person versus telehealth encounters; and frequency of performing five different clinical tasks with patients with LEP compared to English-speaking patients during in-person versus telehealth encounters. Wilcoxon signed rank tests and chi-squared tests were used to compare confidence and task performance frequency respectively for patients with LEP vs. English-speaking patients during telehealth encounters. Students were also asked to identify barriers to care for patients with LEP. The free response was qualitatively analyzed using open coding to categorize barriers (key themes). RESULTS Of 300 medical students surveyed, 121 responded. 72 students answered >50% of questions and were included in the analyses. Compared to caring for patients with LEP during in-person encounters, respondents were less confident in working with interpreters (p<0.001), developing trust (p<0.001), identifying agenda (p=0.005), eliciting preferences for diabetes management (p=0.012), and empowering patient in lifestyle modifications (p=0.044) during telehealth encounters. During both in-person and telehealth encounters, nearly half of students (40-78%) reported engaging less frequently in every clinical task with patients with LEP and this was as low as 22% (13/59) for some tasks. Students identified these key barriers to care for patients with LEP: time pressure, interpretation quality and access, technical difficulties, cultural differences, and difficulty with rapport building. CONCLUSIONS Advanced medical students were significantly less confident caring for patients with LEP via telehealth than in person. Broader implementation of training around navigating language barriers is necessary for telehealth care, which has rapidly expanded in the U.S. Our study identified potential key areas for curricular focus, including creating patient-centered agendas and management plans within the constraints of virtual settings. These developments must take place simultaneously with systems-level improvements in interpreter infrastructure in order to ensure high quality care for linguistically diverse patients. CLINICALTRIAL N/A

American Speech-Language Pathologists' Training and Legislative Knowledge When Working With Immigrant and Refugee Populations: A Qualitative Study

2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (5) ◽  
pp. 1148-1161
Author(s):  
Camilo Maldonado ◽  
Alejandro Ashe ◽  
Kerri Bubar ◽  
Jessica Chapman
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Study ◽  
Service Provision ◽  
Limited English Proficiency ◽  
Linguistic Diversity ◽  
Speech Language Pathologists ◽  
Federal Mandates ◽  
Refugee Families ◽  
Provision Of Services ◽  
English Speaking ◽  
Immigrant And Refugee

Background American educational legislation suggests culturally competent speech and language services should be provided in a child's native language, but the number of multilingual speech-language pathologists (SLPs) is negligible. Consequently, many monolingual English-speaking practitioners are being tasked with providing services to these populations. This requires that SLPs are educated about cultural and linguistic diversity as well as the legislation that concerns service provision to non-English or limited English proficiency speakers. Purpose This qualitative study explored the experiences of monolingual, American, English-speaking SLPs and clinical fellows who have worked with immigrant and refugee families within a preschool context. It investigated what training SLPs received to serve this population and what knowledge these SLPs possessed with regard to federal legislation governing the provision of services to culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) communities. Method Ten American clinicians with experience treating CLD children of refugee and immigrant families in the context of preschool service provision participated in the study. Semistructured interviews were utilized to better understand the type of training clinicians received prior to and during their service delivery for CLD populations. Additionally, questions were asked to explore the degree to which practitioners understood federal mandates for ethical and effective service provision. The data collected from these interviews were coded and analyzed using the principles of grounded theory. Findings The results of this study revealed that there was a general sense of unpreparedness when working with CLD clients. This lack of training also attributed to a deficiency of knowledge surrounding legislation governing service provision to CLD populations.

Patterns of care in Italian psychiatric services and psychosocial outcome of schizophrenic patients. A three-year prospective study

1989 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 23-31 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. Kemali ◽  
M. Maj ◽  
B. Carpiniello ◽  
R.D. Giurazza ◽  
M. Impagnatiello ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Psychosocial Adjustment ◽  
Ad Hoc ◽  
Social Withdrawal ◽  
Skills Training ◽  
Favourable Outcome ◽  
Stepwise Logistic Regression ◽  
Psychosocial Outcome ◽  
Stepwise Logistic Regression Analysis ◽  
Schizophrenic Patients ◽  
The Difference

Summary141 patients with an ICD-9 diagnosis of schizophrenic psychosis were followed up prospectively for 3 years in 7 Italian centres, representative of the different degrees of application of the psychiatric reform law (Law 180) passed in 1978. It was agreed that each centre would treat the patients according to its routine, and that all contacts with the patients and each intervention performed would be carefully recorded in an ad hoc schedule. The baseline evaluation of psychosocial adjustment was performed by the Disability Assessment Schedule (DAS), and this assessment was then repeated every 6 months during the follow-up period. At the end of this period, the rating on the DAS section 5 was taken as a global measure of patients’ psychosocial outcome. On a stepwise logistic regression analysis, 2 variables were found to be significantly predictive of psychosocial outcome, that is the use of social and/or vocational skills training (associated with a favourable outcome) and the number of days/year of full hospitalization (associated with a poor outcome). Trieste and Arezzo were the only centres in which a significant improvement of the score on some DAS subscales (namely, “occupational role, interest” and “social withdrawal”) was detected. In the whole patient sample, the difference between the final and the baseline score on these subscales correlated significantly with the number/year of outpatient contacts and of home visits. These findings confirm the favourable impact of the community-oriented care provided in some Italian centres on the Psychosocial outcome of schizophrenic patients.

scholarly journals Allometric Equations for Estimating Biomass and Carbon Stocks in Afforested Open Woodlands with Black Spruce and Jack Pine, in the Eastern Canadian Boreal Forest

Forests ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 59
Author(s):  
Olivier Fradette ◽  
Charles Marty ◽  
Pascal Tremblay ◽  
Daniel Lord ◽  
Jean-François Boucher
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Ad Hoc ◽  
Black Spruce ◽  
Tree Height ◽  
Jack Pine ◽  
Carbon Stocks ◽  
Allometric Equations ◽  
C Stocks ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Canadian Boreal Forest

Allometric equations use easily measurable biometric variables to determine the aboveground and belowground biomasses of trees. Equations produced for estimating the biomass within Canadian forests at a large scale have not yet been validated for eastern Canadian boreal open woodlands (OWs), where trees experience particular environmental conditions. In this study, we harvested 167 trees from seven boreal OWs in Quebec, Canada for biomass and allometric measurements. These data show that Canadian national equations accurately predict the whole aboveground biomass for both black spruce and jack pine trees, but underestimated branches biomass, possibly owing to a particular tree morphology in OWs relative to closed-canopy stands. We therefore developed ad hoc allometric equations based on three power models including diameter at breast height (DBH) alone or in combination with tree height (H) as allometric variables. Our results show that although the inclusion of H in the model yields better fits for most tree compartments in both species, the difference is minor and does not markedly affect biomass C stocks at the stand level. Using these newly developed equations, we found that carbon stocks in afforested OWs varied markedly among sites owing to differences in tree growth and species. Nine years after afforestation, jack pine plantations had accumulated about five times more carbon than black spruce plantations (0.14 vs. 0.80 t C·ha−1), highlighting the much larger potential of jack pine for OW afforestation projects in this environment.

scholarly journals An Integrated Credit-Based Incentive Protocol for Symbol-Level Network-Coded Cooperative Content Distribution among Vehicular Nodes

2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (11) ◽  
pp. 2035 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ing-Chau Chang ◽  
Chin-En Yen ◽  
Jacky Lo
Keyword(s):  
Ad Hoc ◽  
High Efficiency ◽  
Performance Metrics ◽  
Content Distribution ◽  
Long Latency ◽  
Distribution Process ◽  
Distribution Operations ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Different Content ◽  
Content Information

In traditional symbol-level network coding (SLNC)-based cooperative content distribution approaches, they ignore nodes in the vehicular ad hoc network (VANET) having various network-coded content pieces and distinct levels of interests and selfishness for different kinds of content data, which further prevents these vehicular nodes from forwarding their content information to other nodes. With these approaches, these nodes suffer from the low ratio and the long latency to receive all content information. In this paper, based on distinct levels of node interests and selfishness on different content information, we first categorize vehicular nodes into four classes, that is, the destination, intermediate, irrelevant and overhearing ones and then designate their associated credit-based incentive approaches. Second, we modify the flow of traditional SLNC-based cooperative content distribution operations and propose the content bitmap to realize the difference of network-coded content pieces among vehicular nodes. Further, we rigidly combine the proposed credit-based incentive approach with the modified SLNC-based cooperative content distribution operations in SocialCode to encourage all classes of vehicular nodes to rise their incentives for sharing content data in the cooperative content distribution process. Finally, we perform NS-2 simulations on a street map of downtown Taipei, Taiwan to exhibit the high efficiency of SocialCode over related credit-based incentive approaches by analyzing the following performance metrics, that is, average decoding percentage, file downloading delay and credits, with respect to different file sizes and total numbers of vehicular nodes. As the best knowledge we have, SocialCode is one of the first few researches that works on the integration between the credit-based incentive protocol and the SLNC-based cooperative content distribution.

Language barriers in healthcare delivery

2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mercy Akrofi Ansah ◽  
Mercy Adzo Klugah
Keyword(s):  
Ad Hoc ◽  
Healthcare Delivery ◽  
Language Barriers ◽  
Medical Personnel ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Communication Accommodation ◽  
Quality Healthcare ◽  
Communication Accommodation Theory ◽  
Doctor Patient Communication ◽  
Accommodation Theory

The relevance of language for quality healthcare delivery cannot be overemphasised. Within the framework of communication accommodation theory, this paper discusses language barriers in expatriate doctor–patient communication in three state-owned hospitals in Ghana, and the strategies employed by the medical personnel to bridge communication gaps. The study design is qualitative and the data were obtained through semi-structured interviews with 16 expatriate doctors, three nurses and three patients. Furthermore, observation of five patient–doctor interactions was undertaken and notes taken. Both datasets were then analysed using the qualitative conventional content analysis approach. The findings revealed that the expatriate doctors employed convergence strategies such as ad hoc interpreters, gestures, picture charts and electronic dictionaries to deal with language barriers. The study is expected to stimulate further research into innovative ways of dealing with language barriers in expatriate doctor–patient interactions.

Towards an Improved Parameter-Free Entrainment Model for Snow Avalanches

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dieter Issler
Keyword(s):  
Snow Cover ◽  
Ad Hoc ◽  
Shear Stresses ◽  
Entrainment Rate ◽  
Snow Layer ◽  
Present Contribution ◽  
Weak Layer ◽  
Model Combining ◽  
The Difference ◽  
The 1960S

&lt;p&gt;On physical grounds, the rate of bed entrainment in gravity mass flows should be determined by the properties of the bed material and the dynamical variables of the flow. Due to the complexity of the process, most entrainment formulas proposed in the literature contain some ad-hoc parameter not tied to measurable snow properties. Among the very few models without free parameters are the Eglit&amp;#8211;Grigorian&amp;#8211;Yakimov (EGY) model of frontal entrainment from the 1960s and two formulas for basal entrainment, one from the 1970s due to Grigorian and Ostroumov (GO) and one (IJ) implemented in NGI&amp;#8217;s flow code MoT-Voellmy. A common feature of these three approaches is their treating erosion as a shock and exploiting jump conditions for mass and momentum across the erosion front. The erosion or entrainment rate is determined by the difference between the avalanche-generated stress at the erosion front and the strength of the snow cover. The models differ with regard to how the shock is oriented and which momentum components are considered. The present contribution shows that each of the three models has some shortcomings: The EGY model is ambiguous if the avalanche pressure is too small to entrain the entire snow layer, the IJ model neglects normal stresses, and the GO model disregards shear stresses and acceleration of the eroded mass. As they stand, neither the GO nor the IJ model capture situations&amp;#8213;observed experimentally by means of profiling radar&amp;#8213;in which the snow cover is not eroded progressively but suddenly fails on a buried weak layer as the avalanche flows over it. We suggest a way to resolve the ambiguity in the EGY model and sketch a more comprehensive model combining all three approaches to capture gradual entrainment from the snow-cover surface together with erosion along a buried weak layer.&lt;/p&gt;

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