Bilingual Medical Guidebook Eases Language Barrier Crisis

Main Category: Public Health
Article Date: 08 Oct 2007 - 0:00 PDT

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People with serious injuries or illnesses can be misdiagnosed and suffer distressing results due to language miscommunication. Nowhere is it more critical than in hospitals, clinics and doctors' offices. The Medical Professionals' Guidebook to the History and Physical in English and Spanish bridges that dangerous gap.

"This medical guidebook simplifies a huge problem for the medical community," said Sam Maywood, M.D., Qualified Medical Examiner for the State of California. "This is THE solution for Spanish-speaking patients," he commented, while attending this week's medical symposium in San Diego, where the bilingual medical guide debuted.

Federal law requires hospitals to provide interpreters, but whether on staff or a telephone subscriber service, one may not always be available at the place and time needed. The Medical Professionals' Guidebook to the History and Physical in English and Spanish($99.95) can be readily at hand to help hospitals, doctors, nurses, and other medical professionals who provide direct patient care. The bilingual medical guidebook includes three complete sets of medical history charts in an 8 1/2 x 11 inch binder format, which makes it effective as a workbook or English/Spanish reference manual.

A Florida hospital knows all too well the ramifications of language problems. Its $71 million malpractice settlement resulted from " … an 18-year-old who said he was intoxicado, which can mean nauseated, spent 36 hours being treated for a drug overdose before doctors realized he had a brain aneurysm." (USA Today, "Language barriers plague hospitals," 07/20/06)

Author Nancy Erman, RN, MPA, BA, AS/AA, CCM, CEES, writes in simple and concise phrases that help gather patient history, physical information, and impart instructions. Questions and phrases are provided in English, with easy-to-understand Spanish translations directly below. Charts and illustrations assist to interpret level of pain, clarify conditions, and translate the medical professional's actions.

Example:

"Do you now have or have you ever had any of the following conditions?"

"¿Tiene o tuvo alguna vez alguna de las siguientes afecciones?"

An English/Spanish list follows, to which the non-English speaking patient can point and identify conditions.

The Medical Professionals' Guidebook to the History and Physical in English and Spanish is beneficial not only in a non-English speaking situation, but for circumstances when a patient is not able to speak. Other languages and proprietary editions are available on a custom basis. It is the latest in the Just Point and Communicate bilingual series from Golden West Publishers.

http://www.goldenwestpublishers.com