Dataset Information

Health care professional's communication through an interpreter where language barriers exist in neonatal care: a national study.

ABSTRACT:

Background

A number of parents in neonatal care are foreign-born and do not speak the local language, which makes communication between healthcare professionals and parents more difficult. Interpreters can be used when language barriers exist - parent interactions, medical communication and communication about the care of the child. The aim in this study was to examine healthcare professionals' use of interpreters and awareness of local guidelines for interpreted communication in neonatal care.

Method

A survey was distributed to all 2109 employees at all 38 neonatal units in Sweden, thus to all physicians, registered nurses and nurse assistants in active service. Data were analysed with descriptive statistics and dichotomized so the professionals were compared in groups of two using the Mantel-Haenszel Chi Square test and Fisher's Non Parametric Permutation test.

Results

The survey was answered by 41% (n?=?858) representing all neonatal units. The study showed a difference between the professional groups in awareness of guidelines, availability of interpreters, and individual resources to communicate through an interpreter. Nurse assistants significantly lesser than registered nurses (p?ConclusionThe results of the study show insufficient awareness of guidelines in all neonatal units in Sweden. Clinical implications might be to provide healthcare professionals with guidelines and training clinical skills in using interpreters and increasing the availability of interpreters by having interpreters employed by the hospital.

SUBMITTER: Patriksson K

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6701045 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Health care professional's communication through an interpreter where language barriers exist in neonatal care: a national study.

Patriksson Katarina K Wigert Helena H Berg Marie M Nilsson Stefan S

BMC health services research 20190819 1

<h4>Background</h4>A number of parents in neonatal care are foreign-born and do not speak the local language, which makes communication between healthcare professionals and parents more difficult. Interpreters can be used when language barriers exist - parent interactions, medical communication and communication about the care of the child. The aim in this study was to examine healthcare professionals' use of interpreters and awareness of local guidelines for interpreted communication in neonata ...[more]

PMID: 31426785

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Project description:BackgroundThe World Health Organisation estimates disabling hearing loss to be around 5.3%, while a study of hearing impairment and auditory pathology in Limpopo, South Africa found a prevalence of nearly 9%. Although Sign Language Interpreters (SLIs) improve the communication challenges in health care, they are unaffordable for many signing Deaf people and people with disabling hearing loss. On the other hand, there are no legal provisions in place to ensure the provision of SLIs in the health sector in most countries including South Africa. To advocate for funding of such initiatives, reliable cost estimates are essential and such data is scarce. To bridge this gap, this study estimated the costs of providing such a service within a South African District health service based on estimates obtained from a pilot-project that initiated the first South African Sign Language Interpreter (SASLI) service in health-care.MethodsThe ingredients method was used to calculate the unit cost per SASLI-assisted visit from a provider perspective. The unit costs per SASLI-assisted visit were then used in estimating the costs of scaling up this service to the District Health Services. The average annual SASLI utilisation rate per person was calculated on Stata v.12 using the projects' registry from 2008-2013. Sensitivity analyses were carried out to determine the effect of changing the discount rate and personnel costs.ResultsAverage Sign Language Interpreter services' utilisation rates increased from 1.66 to 3.58 per person per year, with a median of 2 visits, from 2008-2013. The cost per visit was US$189.38 in 2013 whilst the estimated costs of scaling up this service ranged from US$14.2million to US$76.5million in the Cape Metropole District. These cost estimates represented 2.3%-12.2% of the budget for the Western Cape District Health Services for 2013.ConclusionsIn the presence of Sign Language Interpreters, Deaf Sign language users utilise health care service to a similar extent as the hearing population. However, this service requires significant capital investment by government to enable access to healthcare for the Deaf.

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Dataset Information

Health care professional's communication through an interpreter where language barriers exist in neonatal care: a national study.

Background

Method

Results

Publications

Health care professional's communication through an interpreter where language barriers exist in neonatal care: a national study.

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