Challenging Linguistic Barriers to Health Care: Students as Medical Interpreters

What are the barriers and facilitators to exercise and physical activity uptake and adherence among South Asian older adults: A systematic review of qualitative studies

“…Poor English language proficiency has been associated with worse health outcomes (Fryer et al, 2011;Wisnivesky et al, 2009). Having information relayed through a thirdparty can lead to partial or misinformation (Monroe and Shirazian, 2004;Woloshin et al, 1997). As a result of these lost messages, SA older adults may not see themselves as active players in their health.…”

Use of diabetes resources in adults attending a self-management education program

“…How patients communicate, cope and manage illness, and when and from whom treatment is sought is often shaped by cultural factors [43,44]. For instance, only 53.1% of the Cantonese-speaking patients report a physician or an endocrinologist as a resource used compared to 98.1% of the Portuguese and 97.3% of the English-speaking patients.…”

The Roles of Counseling Psychologists in Reducing Health Disparities

“…In addition, counseling psychologists can advocate for policies, system procedures, and health care environment characteristics that improve the quality of care experienced by low-income and ethnic minority patients and that reduce or eliminate barriers that affect access to health care. For example, informed by the Guidelines for Providers of Psychological Services to Ethnic, Linguistic, and Culturally Diverse Populations (APA, 1990), counseling psychologists can jointly encourage providers to seek training in health-related foreign language proficiency to improve their communication and health care service relationships with patients of limited English proficiency, as these types of training have been linked to improved cultural competence and cultural sensitivity among students and providers in the health care field (Monroe & Shirazian, 2004). Counseling psychologists using these guidelines can also encourage health care organizations to engage in other creative and effective practices that appear successful in the provision of services to individuals who have limited English proficiency and who often have limited health care-related knowledge and resources (see Youdelman & Perkins, 2005, for a detailed list of such practices).…”