Improving Provider-Patient Communication Among LEP Patients Abstract

Elderly Hispanic patients experience numerous challenges when seeking for healthcare services since they are only eloquent in their native language and are classified as Limited English Proficient (LEP) patients. Language barriers contribute to poor provider-patient communication and necessitate the integration of third parties in the care delivery process. This paper whether the use of professional interpreters improves patient-provider communication and results in better health outcomes. Through a study that was carried out a sample of 40 elderly Hispanic diabetic patients at a Wellness Center in Los Angeles, using a professional interpreter improves provider-patient communication. The use of professional interpreters and language concordance is associated with improved provider-patient interactions, enhanced interpersonal care, and better medication adherence within three months.

Keywords: elderly Hispanics, patients, medication adherence, bilingual interpreters, treatment, patient-provider communication, healthcare providers.

Overview

Provider-patient communication is an important factor in enhancing patient outcomes in the modern healthcare environment. Elderly Hispanic immigrants and Mexican Americans are among patient populations facing relatively high rates of diabetes. Sentell & Braun (2012) contend that the prevalence of rates of diabetes among Hispanic communities for diagnosed and undiagnosed patients is approximately 18.3%. These populations are pre-disposed to diabetic disorders due to several factors including limited knowledge, lack of access to resources, and cardiometabolic mechanisms (Detz et al., 2014). Since most of these patients are Limited English Proficiency (LEP) patients, they experience tremendous communication challenges as they seek for healthcare services for their diabetic conditions. Communication between healthcare providers and LEP patients is significantly affected by language barriers even as family members are used as ad-hoc interpreters. This project sought to examine whether the use of bilingual interpreters help to improve adherence to treatment procedures and provider-patient communication among diabetic LEP patients. This project is significant to help determine the effectiveness of linguistic intervention in the administration of healthcare services.

Purpose Statement

The purpose of this project was to examine whether the use of bilingual interpreters help to enhance medication compliance among LEP diabetic patients within a 3-month period. The project was conducted on the premise that the use of family members as ad hoc interpreters has proven ineffective in enhancing medication compliance among LEP diabetic patients. In this case, the project sought to determine whether using bilingual interpreters and language concordance would help improve treatment adherence among LEP diabetic patients. The research also sought to establish whether using bilingual interpreters and language concordance reduce glycosylated hemoglobin A1c >9%. The project also sought to determine whether using bilingual interpreters would improve communication between providers and patients by an average of >10 points. Therefore, the research question for this project is, “In Spanish speaking diabetic individuals (50-75 years old), would the use of a bilingual interpreter call during provider visits compared to utilizing family members as interpreters, improve medication adherence over a 3month period?”

Data

The...

In this regard, the researcher identified a Wellness Center in Los Angeles that provides primary care services to diverse diabetic patient populations, particularly elderly Hispanic patients who are not proficient in the English language.
Population

As shown in the previous segments, the target population for this project was elderly Hispanic patients aged between 50 and 75 years suffering from diabetic disorders. Generally, the Hispanic population is one of the fastest growing groups of people in the United States, particularly among America’s elderly population. As the population continues to grow, they are faced with numerous challenges including health problems including diabetes. Elderly Hispanic immigrants and Mexican Americans are among patient populations facing relatively high rates of diabetes with prevalence rates that are estimated at 18.3%. One of the challenges faced by diabetic elderly Hispanic patients aged 50-75 years as they seek for healthcare services is communication problems since most of them are only eloquent in their native language. Therefore, this patient population is disadvantaged due to language barriers that often necessitate the use of an interpreter in the healthcare delivery process.

Sample

To help complete the project and achieve its purpose, an appropriate representative sample was identified and included in the study. The researcher identified a sample of forty (40) elderly Hispanic patients with diabetes. These patients are currently suffering from diabetes and use family members as ad hoc interpreters to help overcome the language barriers they face in provider-patient communication. Diabetic elderly Hispanic patients at the Wellness Center in Los Angeles were eligible for the project if they were between 50-75 years at the commencement of the project, were LEP patients, were continuously enrolled at the center, and used family members as ad hoc interpreters. The individuals were randomly selected and involved in the project voluntarily through signing an informed consent form to confirm participation. To determine generalizability of the research’s findings, the researcher utilized descriptive statistics for comparison of the overall department attributes as shown in Appendix 1.

Instrumentation

The development or design of the data collection process for this study involved the use of a decision tree. Using the decision tree, the researcher started with defining the phenomenon of interest and research question, identifying the phenomena to be evaluated in order to answer the research question, and examining the availability of instruments to measure the phenomena (Bastos et al., 2014).

Data Collection

The data collection process commenced with seeking for approval from IRB chair and committee. This was followed by participants’ recruitment, planning for project execution, and preparing the project setting. The next step in the data collection process entailed collecting demographic data from the sample. The researcher then administered a pre-test prior to the commencement of the 3-month project. The pre-test generated data relating to the status of provider-patient communication in the center, medication adherence, and impact of using family members as ad hoc interpreters on lessening language barriers. The project was then executed for three months before demographic characteristics were analyzed and a post-test administered…