Language diversity and challenges to communication in Indian emergency departments.

BACKGROUND: Communication in emergency departments (ED) in India is complicated by the country's immense language diversity. Prior research has revealed challenges in language and communication as barriers to care. Our objective was to quantify language diversity among clinicians in Indian EDs and better understand issues related to clinician-clinician and clinician-patient communication. METHODOLOGY: A cross-sectional survey of ED clinicians was conducted. Survey participants were recruited in-person and through email at six partner sites in India. ANOVA and binary logistic regression were used for subgroup analysis. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with ED clinicians. Interview data was analyzed using the rapid assessment process to determine predominant themes. RESULTS: 106 clinicians completed the survey. On average, clinicians spoke 3.75 languages. Seventy-one percent used a non-English language to speak to fellow clinicians most of the time, and 53% reported at least one critical incident over the last year where poor communication played a part. Interviews revealed challenges including low health literacy, high patient volume, and workplace hierarchy. CONCLUSIONS: This study is the first to document the impact of language diversity and communication barriers in Indian EDs. The results highlight the need for effective strategies to improve communication between the multiple languages spoken by clinicians and patients.

Postgraduate Medical Education in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Scoping Review Spanning 26 Years and Lessons Learned.

BACKGROUND: Investments in training physician specialists through postgraduate medical education (PGME) are critical for Sub-Saharan Africa, given the increasing burden of non-communicable diseases. OBJECTIVES: The objectives of this scoping review were to (1) understand the breadth of publications on PGME from Sub-Saharan Africa, and (2) conduct a thematic analysis of lessons learned by specific training programs. METHODS: We conducted a literature search of 7 databases for PGME literature published between January 1991 and December 2016. Two reviewers independently reviewed titles and abstracts for inclusion. Full-text articles were then reviewed, and bibliometric data were extracted to create a profile of PGME-related publications. Two authors coded the manuscripts to identify articles written about specific PGME programs. These were analyzed for lessons learned. RESULTS: We identified 813 publications that reported on postgraduate medical education in Sub-Saharan Africa. Most articles were published between 2005 and 2016. Nations leading in publication were South Africa and Nigeria, followed by Ethiopia, Uganda, Kenya, Ghana, and Malawi. The largest number of articles related to general surgery training, followed by family medicine, emergency medicine, and anesthesiology. Thematic analysis revealed advantages of training programs for health facilities, challenges related to teaching, resourcing, and standardizing of training, and lessons learned related to international partnerships, faculty engagement, and research support for trainees. CONCLUSIONS: PGME in Sub-Saharan Africa has evolved over the past 26 years. Future growth will require strategic support to scale programs, support new specialties, trainees, and teachers, and leverage best practice models to sustain PGME programs.

Addressing language barriers to healthcare in India.

In spite of a growing recognition of the importance of doctor-patient communication, the issue of language barriers to healthcare has received very little attention in India. The Indian population speaks over 22 major languages with English used as the lingua franca for biomedicine. Large-scale internal migration has meant that health workers are encountering increasing instances of language discordance within clinical settings. Research done predominantly in the West has shown language discordance to significantly affect access to care, cause problems of comprehension and adherence, and decrease the satisfaction and quality of care. Addressing language barriers to healthcare in India requires a stronger political commitment to providing non-discriminatory health services, especially to vulnerable groups such as illiterate migrant workers. Research will have to address three broad areas: the ways in which language barriers affect health and healthcare, the efficacy of interventions to overcome language barriers, and the costs of language barriers and efforts to overcome them. There is a need to address such barriers in health worker education and clinical practice. Proven strategies such as hiring multilingual healthcare workers, providing language training to health providers, employing in situ translators or using telephone interpretation services will have to be evaluated for their appropriateness to the Indian context. Internet-based initiatives, the proliferation of mobile phones and recent advances in machine translation promise to contribute to the solution.