Language Barriers and The Potential Risks and Concerns

The exchange of accurate information between the patient and the provider is a large part of medical care. The collection of accurate and comprehensive patient-specific data remains the basis for proper diagnosis and prognosis. Certified interpreters facilitate communication and help in the prevention of misunderstandings by ensuring that correct information is passed on.

Barriers to Care

The issues creating barriers to healthcare for individuals are numerous. The greatest barrier to healthcare is health literacy. To define the scope of the issue, research conducted by the United States Department of Education found that thirty-two million adults cannot read above the fifth grade level and 20 percent of high school graduates cannot read. When foreign-born, non-English-speaking individuals are also considered, the magnitude of the problem is considerable.

Statistical Information

There has been a growing trend directed toward vaccines and the American Pediatric Academy immunization schedule of immunization administration. The hesitancy, refusal, and delay of childhood vaccination have been associated with an elevated risk of vaccine-preventable disease. Diseases that were once considered eradiated or controlled are emerging in communities. The factors influencing the emergence of these diseases are immigrant settlement patterns, cultural factors, language barriers, religious beliefs, low educational levels, and socioeconomic status.

Reference:
Lieu, T., Thomas, R., Klein, N., Chung, C., & Kulldorff, M. (2015). Geographic clusters in under-immunization and vaccine refusal. Pediatrics, 135(2).

Financial limitations are another significant barrier to accessing healthcare services and filling necessary prescriptions to manage chronic diseases. In addition, a substantial number of individuals of lower-socioeconomic status and the elderly have poor adherence to prescription medication, fail to manage a chronic disease, or fail to make needed lifestyle changes to mitigate declining quality of life.

Cultural differences are a challenge beyond language. Some cultures don’t realize the need for healthcare until they start feeling ill. In some cultures, religious beliefs prevent individuals from accepting certain medical services such as transfusion and immunization. In others, family dynamics center on a maternal or paternal paradigm, which guides the activity of family members. While each example seems extreme, the intent is to highlight the interwoven complex issues that surround barriers to care and diversity in society.

This complex web of barriers to care needs to be addressed collectively with a focus on demographics. The financial burden to address all the barriers is exhaustively expensive, and for some issues, there is no logical, or reasonable, approach. The burden of disease over the past few decades has shifted from the acute illness to a chronic health condition, which increases the importance of health literary. Select areas are impacted by specific issues in varying degrees. As such, the most significant should be addressed to have the greatest impact. One of the most significant barriers to bridge is health literacy. The approach to allow individuals to become more understanding of their illness and treatment can likely have far-reaching promise.

Cultural Differences in Healthcare

There is a distinct difference between the notion of illness and disease. The idea of illness rests within the individual’s lived experience, while disease is a science-based event impacting populations. In a diverse society, healthcare can be complex and conflicting. Challenges to deliver healthcare become further complicated when intertwined with religious, cultural, and language barriers. Conceptually, Western and Eastern medicine vary and have subcultures unto their own history, language, codes of conduct, expectations, methods, and outcomes. The Western paradigm embraces science as its biological foundation and transcends the idea of religion and culture. Eastern wellness practices recognize the idea of the whole person, accepting spiritual, cultural, and religious overlays to this scientific basis. However, science demonstrates human populations are guided biological principles that surpass cultural dogmas.