RESUMEN
OBJECTIVES: Communication is a main challenge in migrant health and essential for patient safety. The aim of this study was to describe the satisfaction of caregivers with limited language proficiency (LLP) with care related to the use of interpreters and to explore underlying and interacting factors influencing satisfaction and self-advocacy. DESIGN: A mixed-methods study. SETTING: Paediatric emergency department (PED) at a tertiary care hospital in Bern, Switzerland. PARTICIPANTS AND METHODS: Caregivers visiting the PED were systematically screened for their language proficiency. Semistructured interviews were conducted with all LLP-caregivers agreeing to participate and their administrative data were extracted. RESULTS: The study included 181 caregivers, 14 of whom received professional language interpretation. Caregivers who were assisted by professional interpretation services were more satisfied than those without (5.5 (SD)±1.4 vs 4.8 (SD)±1.6). Satisfaction was influenced by five main factors (relationship with health workers, patient management, alignment of health concepts, personal expectations, health outcome of the patient) which were modulated by communication. Of all LLP-caregivers without professional interpretation, 44.9% were satisfied with communication due to low expectations regarding the quality of communication, unawareness of the availability of professional interpretation and overestimation of own language skills, resulting in low self-advocacy. CONCLUSION: The use of professional interpreters had a positive impact on the overall satisfaction of LLP-caregivers with emergency care. LLP-caregivers were not well-positioned to advocate for language interpretation. Healthcare providers must be aware of their responsibility to guarantee good-quality communication to ensure equitable quality of care and patient safety.
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Cuidadores , Servicios Médicos de Urgencia , Humanos , Niño , Barreras de Comunicación , Lenguaje , Satisfacción Personal , TraducciónRESUMEN
The aim of our study was to analyze the use of interpreter services and improve communication during health encounters with families with limited language proficiency (LLP) at the pediatric emergency department (ED) of the University Hospital of Bern.This study is a pre- and post-intervention study analyzing the use of interpreter services for LLP families. All families originating from a country with a native language other than German, English or French presenting to the ED were eligible to participate in the study. If they agreed to participate, the language proficiency of the caregiver present during the health encounter was systematically assessed during a phone interview within a few days after the consultation, using a standardized screening tool. If screened positive (relevant LLP), a second phone interview with an interpreter was conducted. Further variables were extracted including nationality, age, gender and date of visit using administrative health records. To increase the use of interpreter services, a package of interventions was implemented at the department during 3 months. It consisted of: i) in person and online transcultural teaching ii) awareness raising through the regular information channels and iii) the introduction of a pathway to systematically identify and manage LLP families.The proportion of LLP families who received an interpreter was 11.0% (14/127) in the pre-intervention period compared to 14.8% (20/135) in the post-intervention period. The interpreter use was therefore increased by 3.8% (95% CI - 0.43 to 0.21; p = 0.36).The assessed level of language proficiency of caregivers differed from the self-reported level of language proficiency. Of the study participants in the interview whose language proficiency was screened as limited, 77.1% estimated their language proficiency level as intermediate. More than half of the LLP families who did not receive an interpreter and participated in the interview reported, that they would have liked an interpreter during the consultation.Conclusions: Interpreter services are largely underused during health encounters with LLP families. Relying on caregivers´ self-assessed language proficiency and their active request for an interpreter is not sufficient to ensure safe communication during health encounters. Systematic screening of language proficiency and standardized management of LLP families is feasible and needed at health care facilities to ensure equitable care. Further studies are needed to analyze personal and institutional barriers to interpreter use and find interventions to sustainably increase the use of interpreter services for LLP families.
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Barreras de Comunicación , Servicio de Urgencia en Hospital , Niño , Humanos , Técnicos Medios en Salud , Lenguaje , Suiza , Pediatría , MultilingüismoRESUMEN
BACKGROUND: In the last decade an increasing number of asylum-seeking children arrived in Europe and local healthcare systems have been challenged to adapt to their health needs. The aim of this study was to compare the spectrum of disease and management of asylum-seeking and non-asylum-seeking children requiring hospital admission. METHODS: This was a retrospective cohort study including health data from recently arrived asylum-seeking and non-asylum-seeking children admitted between January 2016 and December 2017. Data were collected using electronic administrative and medical records. RESULTS: Of 11,794 admissions of 9407 patients, 149 (1%) were asylum-seeking and 11,645 (99%) from non-asylum-seeking children. In asylum-seeking children the median age was 4 years (interquartile range [IQR] 0–13) with 61% males and in non-asylum-seeking children 4 years (IQR 0–11) years with 56% males. Respiratory infections accounted for 17–19% of admissions in both groups. Rare infectious diseases were more frequent in asylum-seeking children (15 vs 7%; difference in proportions 0.08, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.02–0.14; p <0.001,). Injuries were more frequent in non-asylum-seeking children (22 vs 13%; difference in proportions 0.09, 95% CI 0.04–0.014; p <0.01). Admissions for mental health disorders were infrequent but more common in asylum-seeking children (6 vs 3%; difference in proportions 0.03, 95% CI −0.01 – 0.07; p = 0.02) Prescription of analgesics was lower in asylum-seeking than non-asylum-seeking children (3.4 vs 6.5 accounting units per admission). Antibiotic prescription was comparable in both groups. CONCLUSION: Asylum-seeking children represent a small number of total admissions. Age distribution and main reason for admission being diseases of the respiratory system were comparable in asylum-seeking and non-asylum-seeking children. Rare infections and mental health disorders are important diseases in asylum-seeking children and require special attention and training of staff working with paediatric asylum seekers.