Careers in the health industry often expose health professionals to a multitude of individuals, all ranging from different cultures and backgrounds. While this is a privilege, there are often barriers that are associated with communicating to individuals from different cultural backgrounds.
“Factors that commonly interfere with care delivery to a person from another culture are confusion and fear about the treatment process, the perception of pain, and the strangeness of the surroundings.” (David, M.M. 2000). To provide patients with comfort and to remind them that they are receiving the highest quality treatment, health professionals can implement non-verbal communication skills, such as hand gestures, facial expressions and varied tones/pitches. These are used to connect with the patients on a basic level, without having to speak the same language.
However, many patients require verbal assistance and it is required to offer additional help, often in the form of translators, to patients who are not fluent in English. Hiring a translator for non-english speaking patients will produce the best positive outcomes as it provides the patient with a sense of comfort and support and also allows the patient to know every detail of their health cases, to the fullest extent. While many patients use family members as translators, hiring a professional translator “not only knows the patient’s language, but is also well-versed in medical terminology and has been trained to present information in an unbiased way.”. This ensures the patient is fully aware of all the information related to their medical situation.
A study performed to analyse how patients reacted when translators were involved in the explanation of health situations showed that there were “significant increases in the receipt of preventive services, physician visits, and prescription drugs” (Jacobs, E. A., Shepard, D. S., Suaya, J. A., & Stone, E.-L. (2004)
Along with verbally communication, communicating with patients from different cultural backgrounds also requires respecting the boundaries of different cultures. These can include
References
David, M.M. (2000). Communicating nonverbally with non-English speaking multicultural emergency room patients: An educational module for nurses. https://search-proquest-com.ezproxy.uws.edu.au/docview/304592456/abstract/8A9FCF2C4720428FPQ/1?accountid=36155
Jacobs, E. A., Shepard, D. S., Suaya, J. A., & Stone, E.-L. (2004). Overcoming Language Barriers in Health Care: Costs and Benefits of Interpreter Services. American Journal of Public Health, 94(5), 866–869.
Communication in Paramedicine 