March 2018
Language Barriers Adding to Health Disparity in America
According to a University of California, Irvine study, language remains a critical road block to quality health care for the millions of Americans whose primary language is not English. Specifically, the researchers found that patients who did not speak the same language as their doctors were less likely to receive lifestyle counseling in diet, exercise and smoking cessation. However, having access to a qualified interpreter allowed health education to take place and partially overcame the language barrier.1
People who encounter language barriers in attempt to use the health care system are also unlikely to obtain and understand basic health information. Inadequate health literacy is associated with decreased self-management skills, little to no use of preventive services, less health knowledge among patients with chronic diseases and is directly linked to higher mortality rates.2
Furthermore, non-English-speaking patients are less likely than English speakers to use primary care, preventive care or public health services. They are more likely to use emergency departments (EDs), increasing potentially preventable ED visits (PPVs). Once at an ED, such people receive far fewer services than English-speaking patients due to the language barrier.3
Health care providers can help significantly decrease the overuse of the ED, and increase the quantity and quality of care to their patients by providing effective translation services to their non-English speaking patients. Because effective communication depends on the competency of those providing language services, quality improvement strategies should be applied to language services to ensure the competency of interpreters, translators and bilingual staff who may provide health care services directly in languages other than English.
For assistance with language interpretation, please reach out to our language interpretation service, Akorbi Language Line at: 1-866-256-7245.
Sources: 1University of California, Irvine. "Language Barriers Adversely Impact Health-care Quality." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, Nov. 14, 2007; 2D.W. Baker et al., “Health Literacy and Mortality among Elderly Persons,” Archives of Internal Medicine 167, no. 14 (2007): 1503–1509; 3J. Bernstein et al., “Trained Medical Interpreters in the Emergency Department: Effects on Services, Subsequent Charges, and Follow-up,” Journal of Immigrant Health 4, no. 4 (2009): 171–176