Linguistic Communication Barriers

1827 Words4 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Research paper on cultural competency in healthcare

Communication Barriers

Hispanic immigrants living in American are regularly faced with communication problems. When one’s native culture varies from the norm they are often the one expected to eliminate the disparity. Language barriers present for the Hispanic population living in America and their physical therapists can cause significant problems, not only for communication in general but also for diagnosis and treatment. In order to overcome communication barriers in the field of physical therapy, providers need to become more linguistically and culturally competent.

When asked what was a problem that regularly frustrated her while working, Karen Hobbs, PT of Erwin NC, immediately responded, “not being able to talk to my own patients” (Hobbs). Mrs. Hobbs is a physical therapist who works in a rural farming community that is largely populated by Hispanics. Her frustration is shared by many physical therapists who struggle to communicate with their patients.

Language barriers are a problem that physical therapist are faced with across the nation. In American, over two-fifths of the Spanish-speaking Hispanics report that they experience difficulty understanding their medical provider because of a language barrier. In many cases the weight of this problem that physical therapists are faced with is handed over to the patients. Only half of the patients that report a difficulty understanding and needing an interpreter present are regularly provided one (Uninsured). One study found that only one percent of Hispanics received help from a trained medical interpreter. Most patients relied on the help of family and friends (Bustos). Family members and friends that are used as translators often have a limited under...

... middle of paper ...

.... (March 2002): Joyner Library, City of Greenville, NC. February 2004.

“Safety Pros Share Proven Tricks for Training Spanish-Speaking Workers.” LexisNexis.

IOMA Safety Directors Report. (July 2003): Joyner Library, City of Greenville, NC. February 2004.

Taylor, Curtis. “A Language Barrier; Mayor, HRA Oppose Bill Requiring Interpreters.”

NexisLexis. Queens Edition. (November 2003): Joyner Library, City of Greenville, NC. February 2004.

“Tips on How to Increase Cultural Competency.” American Physical Therapy

Association. Foundation for Physical Therapy. 20 February 2004. .

“Uninsured Hispanics With Limited English Face Formidable Barriers To Health Care

Finds Commonwealth Fund Report.” LexisNexis, U.S. Newswire. (February 2003): Joyner Library, City of Greenville, NC. February 2004.

Show More
Related

  • Analysis of The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down

    1258 Words  | 3 Pages

    In my life I have seen how even while speaking the same language there can be communication problems. Adding the inability to speck the same language and then the complexity of describing medical conditions, I can see how the situation could turn out poorly and cause troubling effects. This chapter has helped me better understand why the Hmon...

    Read More

  • All Paths Lead to Love in the Practice of Meditation

    1204 Words  | 3 Pages

    Hesse, Hermann, and Susan Bernofsky. Siddhartha: An Indian Poem. New York: Modern Library, 2008. Print.

    Read More

  • Role of Medical Interpreter as Patient Advocate

    1356 Words  | 3 Pages

    Professional providers of language in medicine or medical interpreters are often portrayed as invisible language facilitators (Angelelli 7). This means that their role is to convey the meaning into the other language between parties in the interaction which is accomplished through a conduit role or message converter role. The incremental intervention model of interpreting lets interpreters use a variety of roles including cultural broker and advocate role. Advocacy is a role that an interpreter takes that moves from interpreting the communication between speakers to acting on behalf of one of the speakers based on the interpreter’s understanding of what the speaker’s intended outcome is (NCIHC). It is challenging for medical interpreters to judge when to switch from their role as message converters to become patient advocates, and speak out in their own voice on behalf of a patient maintaining, at all times, high ethical and professional standards. When interpreters step in the role of patient advocate they become visible in the interaction going beyond the conduit role and becoming co-participants in the triad. What is the ethical role of the medical interpreter as an advocate for the Latino patient?; when is it appropriate to use advocacy?; how to make the decision?; what are the consequences of inappropriate use of advocacy role?; what are the boundaries?

    Read More

  • Internal Conflict in Hermann Hesse’s Siddhartha

    958 Words  | 2 Pages

    The novel Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse is a timeless story about one man’s journey of finding peace in his way of life and thoughts. Siddharta is a young Brahmin’s son, who is dissatisfied with his worship and in turn sets out to find the lifestyle that is right for him. Siddhartha is faced with many external, physical conflicts, yet that is not the most prominent type of conflict in the story. Hesse builds excitement and suspense through Siddhartha’s internal journey to create an emotional response usually associated with external conflict.

    Read More

  • Health Care Interpreting

    1246 Words  | 3 Pages

    The top priority of the medical interpreters is removing language barrier between the medical practitioners and the patients and helping the patients to treat properly. Indeed, impartiality can be challenged in medical setting. However, some articles are pointed out that the interpreter who is related to the patient is not always harmful to the patients and the medical practitioners. Therefore, when the medical interpreters take an assignment, they should consider what the best is for the patients and the medical practitioners.

    Read More

  • Counseling the Mexican American client

    709 Words  | 2 Pages

    ​In thinking about what culture or special population I would really want to learn and understand about, the Mexican culture kept coming to mind. I believe in my practice I will see a lot of clients who are Mexican and I would truly like to understand their culture and not be ignorant to it. Every culture has their own special ways and I as a counselor would love to learn and understand so one day I can give them the best counseling possible. It is important to me to fully understand their culture because not everyone will respond the same way and in order for there to be a good client/therapist relationship, I need to learn and understand the best I can. In my paper I will take a look at the Mexican culture, how it differs from American culture and ways to help improve my relationship with a Mexican client. I will look at their social structure, family, religion, language, literacy, communication styles, socioeconomic position, traditional health care beliefs and practices, and health care seeking behaviors. The Mexican culture is dynamic and expressed in various ways, owing to individual life experience and personality. Some Mexicans living in the United States may be more or less acculturated to mainstream U.S. culture (Smith, CH 2 online). I will also research some different types of therapy/treatment approaches that would be most effective for the Mexican client and what they are dealing with. With all my research and findings I hope to learn and become better aware of their culture and possibly others, so I can be the best therapist I can be. No therapist wants their stereotypes, biases, and culture bound attitudes toward their client's culture to make it difficult for them to serve them effectively (Wright, 1988).

    Read More

  • Man's Search for Meaning in Fight Club and Siddhartha

    2411 Words  | 5 Pages

    "Siddhartha". Novels for Students. Ed. David Galens. Vol. 6. New York: Thomson Gale, 1997. 255-275. 16 vols.

    Read More

  • Nursing Reflection: Non-English Speaking Patients

    989 Words  | 2 Pages

    Pashley, H.(2012). Overcoming barriers when caring for patients with limited english proficiency. Association of Operating Room Nurses.AORN Journal, 96(3), C10-C11. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0001-2092(12)00833-2

    Read More

  • Limited Access to Health Care for Spanish Speaking Population

    1735 Words  | 4 Pages

    Hospitals still use family members to interpret for limited English speaking patients. Hospitals use language line, a company the nurse calls to find interpreter or they use a trained staff member to interpret. Some hospitals continue to use Spanish speaking staff that is bilingual and not trained for translating in the medical field. There is a need for better trained professional interpreters for both the patient and the health care provider. These are necessary components in providing language access in other areas of the united sates with the increasing Spanish-speaking populations (Martinez-Gibson, & Gibson, 2007). Does staff in Emergency Departments continue to use family members and untrained staff as interpreters? Language line and trained interpreters are the only acceptable interpreters (Martinez-Gibson, & Gibson, 2007). When interpreter is needed in an urgent case there needs to be a trained interpreter on staff 24 hours in the emergency department, language line is not always congruent to life saving care that is needed...

    Read More

  • Reflective Account On Barriers Of Communication

    1147 Words  | 3 Pages

    As part of my HNC study, I have been asked to write a reflective account based on a particular incident where I overcame the barriers of communication with a service user. To respect and retain confidentiality as outlined in the data protection act 1998 and within the organisational policy, I will refer to the individual as Mrs X. (Gov.uk, 2016). To assist me in my process of reflection, I will be using Gibbs (1988) Reflective Cycle; this six stage model will help by giving structure to my reflection.

    Read More

  • How Did Siddhartha's Search For Enlightenment

    824 Words  | 2 Pages

    At its core, Siddhartha is a novel examining a young boy’s search for eternal truths, spiritual enlightenment, and a sense of purpose. He attempts to live entirely devoid of self-pleasure, encounters temptations, then tries a life filled with indulgence. He grapples with the highs and lows of friendship, doubt, anxiety, contemplates suicide, the acquisition and subsequent loss of a family before finally finding a way to achieve his own form of enlightenment. While the novel is riddled with themes and motifs about what it takes to achieve forms of content within oneself, as well as historical parallels using the life of the Buddha, Siddhartha Gautama, I argue that Siddhartha is overwhelmingly an outlet that Nobel Prize-winning author Hermann Hesse used to reflect on the early days of his life and his own search for enlightenment.

    Read More

  • Rites of Passage Ceremonies

    2764 Words  | 6 Pages

    "What Is Confirmation in the Catholic Church?" - For Dummies. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Dec. 2013.

    Read More

  • The Stages of Siddharta's Journey to Self Enlightenment

    1700 Words  | 4 Pages

    Timpe, Eugene F. "Hesse's Siddhartha and the Bhagavad Gita." Comparative Literature 22.4 (Fall 1970): 346-357. Rpt. in Twentieth-Century Literary Criticism. Ed. Thomas J. Schoenberg and Lawrence J. Trudeau. Vol. 196. Detroit: Gale, 2008. Literature Resource Center. Web. 25 Nov. 2013.

    Read More

  • A Language Barrier

    1256 Words  | 3 Pages

    From my experience, bilingual education was a disadvantage during my childhood. At the age of twelve, I was introduced into a bilingual classroom for the first time. The crowded classroom was a combination of seventh and eighth grade Spanish-speaking students, who ranged from the ages of twelve to fifteen. The idea of bilingual education was to help students who weren’t fluent in the English language. The main focus of bilingual education was to teach English and, at the same time, teach a very basic knowledge of the core curriculum subjects: Mathematics, Social Sciences, and Natural Sciences. Unfortunately, bilingual education had academic, psychological, and social disadvantages for me.

    Read More

  • Hermann Hesse: A Classic Take on the Modern Age

    1459 Words  | 3 Pages

    Hermann Hesse, writing in the twentieth century, extolled many of the virtues of the past. His unique style, dependent upon German Romanticism, adapted the issues of the modern age. Using subject matter from various sources, Hesse built fictional worlds that mirrored reality. In the novel Siddhartha, Hesse deals specifically with the spiritual quest. Although writing about the spiritual landscape of India, this work addresses the desire for meaning that the entire world felt after the events of World War I.

    Read More

More about Linguistic Communication Barriers

Open Document