Language Barriers To Immigrants

According to the 2011 U.S. Census, twenty-one percent of the population speaks other language at home besides English. Hence, one of the biggest challenges in Healthcare is the language barrier between the providers, Health care administrators and patients that speak foreign languages. This poses a challenge for medical entities,

Non-English speaking citizens and immigrants are receiving improper medical care because of the miscommunication. The people who cannot speak English well are misunderstood, when they go to free clinics or hospital emergency rooms and attempt to explain their symptoms and illness or cannot understand the doctors or medical profession that are trying to help them. ” Interpreters are omitting questions about drug allergies. Patients are not telling nurses the correct symptoms. A mother misunderstood by putting oral antibiotic into the ears of the child instead of the mouth. The Puerto Rican word for mumps is not the same in Central America, so a child was mistreated. A doctor mistakenly told a parent to put a steroid crème on entire child instead of just the face” (Yolanda Prtida, 2005). Language barriers in the medical field are dangerous and some times even fatal. There is definitely a need for more translators in hospitals and doctors office. Clear communication is essential for safe quality healthcare. Poor communication can lead to disastrous outcomes, especially for patients with limited or no English ability.

Can you imagine the how the healthcare industry would be without language, what seems to be impossible to imagine is the everyday reality of some patients because of their native language. Language is a major contribution to the health disparities that some populations face, because it makes it difficult for some patients to communicate their problems as well as understand the care they provided. Language contributes to the health disparities that some populations face because it creates a barrier between the patient and the care provider, making it difficult for a patient to receive proper care. Language barriers create a communication gap between a patient and a provider, forcing the patient to feel misunderstood and unable to trust his/her provider to properly care for them. I come from a family that speaks more than one language, so I have seen the impact language barriers can have on someone who doesn’t speak fluent English.

Many people have seen the increase of immigrants coming to the United States. “Census 2000 measured a U.S. population of 281.4 million, including 1.2 million who reported and Arab ancestry” (de la Cruz and Brittingham, 2000). Arab Americans are those people who speak or are descendents of Arabic-speaking populations. As doctors and caregivers continue to provide care to those that speak English, communication between them is easy. But when this simple task is changed when there is a patient from a different culture, it produces challenges that both parties have to overcome. Doctors and caregivers have to increase their cultural awareness and sensitivity so that there is a good

Language Barrier: Communication can be difficult if English is not the resident’s first language. Highfield Healthcare should look at employing bilingual staff to overcome this problem.

Health care is one of the most controversial and discussed topics in the United States. This is mainly because of the enormous issues that surround this subject matter, such as the goal of creating a greater diversity in the medical professions, the goal to reduce health care disparities, and mainly to improve health care for all. In my personal experience this issues have affected me and my family very closely. As immigrants, I saw my parents struggle with the language, adapting to a new culture and even seeking healthcare. Health care disparities is an imminent issue that affects many of us, including me. On top of the financial struggle my parents faced as immigrants, they also faced the barrier of not being understood. I witnessed how my

I believe cultural difference between service providers and immigrant families is a major barrier; therefore, there should be more diversity of staff in government organizations and more opportunities for cultural training of health care providers to deliver more culturally-sensitive health services to immigrant women that are congruent to their own traditional beliefs. This could help to reduce language barriers and prevent further racist treatment for immigrant women. One limitation of this study is the small number of visible-minority immigrants in Halifax.

foreign education. Often, when immigrants come to Canada, their degrees and qualifications are not recognized here in Canada because they were earned in other countries and also the language barriers does pose an obstacle to employment for immigrant and visible minority women. Around 16 per cent of immigrants, particularly refugees, come to Canada without knowledge of either official languages French and English (Saraswati, 2000).

❝If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his own language, that goes to his heart.❞ According to Nelson Mandela the apartheid regime of South Africa with a multi-racial democracy, and was the country's first black president. Large amount of immigrant coming to America today and continue to growth. The biggest issue they're facing was language. English is their second language, yes it is hard for the person to learn two language when theyŕe already in an old age and even in kids are struggling with this at school. Not only adult people but children are also affecting, without communication and understanding makes them felt discourage and depress living in new society. Most immigrants

Effective communication with patients is critical to the safety and quality care. From the last two decades ,number of researches has been conducted on the impact of language barrier on health and healthcare. It is observed that language barriers are the main cause of medical errors, complication and adverse event. But due to data limitations ,limited researches on impacts of language barrier has been conducted in Canadian setting. However, the researches conducted on other countries on the impact of language barrier on quality of care is applicable in the Canadian context. Some researches shows that there are several barrier which affect quality of care and patient safety. Now, researches has begun to know the complexity of language, culture, race, health literacy that may affect patient care. Current approaches are moved towards the knowledge of risk of language barrier rather than implementation of effective, evidence informed strategies.

The United States of America is regarded to many foreigners as the "land of opportunity". To many Puerto Ricans that still live on the island they view the mainland as just that. While other Puerto Ricans can't wait to return to their homeland. Many Puerto Ricans came to the United States because they believed they would not only find better jobs but a better education than on the island.

Immigrant women are involuntarily sterilized in the name of public health. Immigrant women who arrive in the United States to give birth feel coerced into sterilization. The information that was provided to these women regarding sterilization has not been in their native language. All forms provided to patients, especially consent forms for any procedure need be a person’s native language. Many immigrant women who do not know English and give birth in the United States are under the impression that the forms they are required to sign in English are standard after giving birth when they just signed forms consenting to have a tubal ligation.

Language issues also impact immigrant women’s abilities to develop therapeutic relationships with health care providers and express themselves effectively in healthcare settings. In an ethnographic study on communication challenges for immigrant women in rural Alberta, Higginbottom et al found that communication challenges extend beyond verbal communication and impact immigrant women’s abilities to build trusting relationships with their healthcare providers and results in miscommunications due to unshared cultural meanings of language. (HigginbottomAlberta:300-301) Reitmanova reported that, in addition to preventing access to information for immigrant Muslim women in their study, limited English fluency also made it difficult for immigrant

One of the greatest things about nursing is that we have the opportunity to share with different cultures and learn about them. Our patients are complex; they each have their religion, culture, and life choices. Delivering health advice and not knowing much about a patient’s cultural background will influence how the patient may perceive the nurses’ advice. The article that I did my research on was published in 2011, by Perez-Avila, Sobralske and Katz; the name of the article is “No Comprendo: Practice Considerations When Caring for Latinos With Limited English Proficiency in the United States Health Care System”. In the United States, Hispanics form the largest minority. Most of this community has limited English

Immigrants and refugees seeking services seem to lack knowledge and understanding of American culture. This may lead to legal issues and barriers that can ultimately impact their health and well-being. Language barriers are a huge problem among the immigrant and refugee community which leads to laws being broken without immigrants and refugees realizing that they are breaking the law. For example, in one’s native country, bribing law enforcement may be acceptable, while in the United States, it is an offense which will result in arrest. Immigrants and refugees need to be taught this in a way that they can understand.