Imagine you're playing a high-stakes game of Telephone, where the message you convey could mean the difference between life and death. Scary, right? Now, welcome to the world of undertrained interpreters in healthcare, a precarious reality that thousands of non-English-speaking patients in America face every day.
In the center of this linguistic battlefield stands Kevin Thakkar, a professional Gujarati medical interpreter and the founder of Americans Against Language Barriers (AALB). Having witnessed the grave consequences of undertrained interpreters first-hand, Thakkar established AALB in 2018 with one mission in mind: to ensure that no patient is left hopeless, misunderstood, or mistreated due to linguistic barriers in the healthcare system.
"Healthcare isn't just about medicine and treating the disease. It's about understanding," says Thakkar. "It's about understanding your patient's symptoms, their history, their fears. And if you can't communicate effectively, that understanding is lost."
The consequences of such loss in understanding can be dire, even fatal.. In a field where precision is paramount, miscommunication can lead to incorrect diagnoses, inappropriate treatments, and even fatal errors. A study in Health Affairs reveals that patients with limited English proficiency are more likely to experience medical errors, longer hospital stays, and readmissions.
But the issue isn't just about language; it's about the quality of interpretation. Hospitals, sometimes even when options such as professional interpreter services are available, resort to using untrained staff or family members as makeshift interpreters, a practice fraught with risks. As a result, medical jargon, cultural nuances, and the emotional weight of the situation can all be lost in interpretation.
This is where Americans Against Language Barriers steps in. The organization is steadfastly committed to its mission of equipping medical interpreters with the necessary skills to ensure accurate and empathetic communication. Acknowledging that medical interpreting extends far beyond bilingualism, AALB has established a comprehensive training program.
Our extensive training program emphasizes not only medical terminology but also the nuanced application of the code of ethics, like maintaining patient confidentiality, and standards of practice such as accuracy and impartiality, which are intrinsic to the medical interpretation profession," explains Thakkar. "These elements, critical in complex, high-stress healthcare situations, are at the core of AALB's training. Through this program, the organization reinforces the multifaceted competencies needed for effective medical interpreting, well beyond linguistic skills."
As a way to fuel their mission even further, AALB has also given out scholarships, and they even extended their services to train blind individuals and equip them with the knowledge to become professional medical interpreters. In the past year, the organization provided over $50,000 in scholarships for low-income individuals and refugees - a noble initiative that not only helped in solving the issue of untrained medical interpreters but also helped marginalized communities find their rightful place in society.
"At AALB, we go beyond simply teaching languages. Interpretation encompasses so much more, and we're here to build a protective layer for patients," explains Thakkar. "Our ultimate goal is to ensure that when a patient communicates, their words are not just interpreted but understood without error. This involves maintaining the accuracy, tone, and register of their words without any omissions, additions, or substitutions."
The case of Willie Ramirez, an 18-year-old baseball player, vividly highlights the disastrous outcomes that can occur from language misunderstandings in healthcare. In 1980, Ramirez was admitted to a Florida hospital in a comatose state. His family, who were native Spanish speakers, used the term 'intoxicado' to describe his condition. However, due to the absence of trained medical interpreters, the healthcare staff understood this as him being 'intoxicated,' a direct but mistaken interpretation.
In many Spanish-speaking cultures, 'intoxicado' is commonly used to express a state of ill health due to something one ate or drank, similar to 'food poisoning' or an 'adverse reaction' in English. Misinterpreting 'intoxicado' as 'intoxicated' led the medical team down a misguided treatment path, tragically overlooking Ramirez's actual condition - an intracerebral hemorrhage. The devastating consequence of this misinterpretation, which resulted in Ramirez becoming permanently quadriplegic, not only brought profound human suffering but also led to a multimillion-dollar malpractice lawsuit. This case, marked by its human tragedy and substantial legal implications, underscores the vital need for adequately trained medical interpreters.
This grave misinterpretation underscores the kind of tragic misunderstanding that organizations like AALB aim to prevent. AALB-trained interpreters, familiar with such crucial linguistic and cultural nuances, could help avoid these potentially life-altering miscommunications.
This highlights how even minor linguistic nuances can be life-altering. And Thakkar and AALB are ready to meet this demand, committed to ensuring that every patient, irrespective of their language, has access to safe and effective healthcare. After all, as Thakkar explains, it is a right guaranteed by nondiscrimination laws, such as Title VI of the Civil Rights Act and Section 1557 of the Patient Protection and Affordable Card Act.
"When it comes to healthcare, every word counts," Thakkar says. "We at AALB are ensuring that those words don't get lost in interpretation. Because when it comes to a person's health, there's no room for errors."
So, the next time you hear about language barriers in healthcare, think of the perilous game of Telephone. Then remember Kevin Thakkar and Americans Against Language Barriers, who are working tirelessly to ensure that every patient's message is received loud and clear. In healthcare, where the stakes are of the highest order, settling for anything less than precise, effective communication simply isn't an option..
