Case
"Dr J is a second-year emergency department (ED) resident physician who, during an unusually busy shift, sees MM, a 13-year-old girl, accompanied by her father; this is their third visit to the ED this week. MM, rubbing her belly, appears somewhat uncomfortable but in no apparent distress. After 15 minutes of fumbling with an interpreter via phone, Dr J realizes that MM and her father speak a language or dialect not available via the interpreter phone service. The 3 navigate a broken English dialogue that seems to reveal that, for 5 days, MM has had decreased appetite and abdominal pain, which was most severe yesterday and since then has improved. Dr J’s physical examination of MM reveals mild, diffuse, nonspecific abdominal tenderness that seems most consistent with acute gastroenteritis. Dr J leaves MM’s room and confers with Dr C about a treatment plan. Dr J returns to MM, suggesting she take acetaminophen for pain, and arranges for MM’s discharge from the ED before moving on to another patient.
Two days later, MM returns to the ED with an abdominal abscess from a ruptured appendix, in septic shock, and requiring urgent surgical intervention. Dr J wonders what she might have done differently."
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I found this case study online and wondered how many other times an instance like has happened. What steps can be taken to resolve issues such as the one provided above?
I remember a public health course I took a little less than 2 years ago taught about health inequity stemming from miscommunication. There is definitely a gap to fill between medical terminology (drugs, processes etc.) and knowledge of the general public. Although strides have been made to close the gap, it persists. Hopefully such issues can be resolved in the near future.
ReplyDeleteMaking language interpretation services more advanced and extensive is a start. Here might be a good way to use technology and really invest in something that is accurate and practical. Obviously, there may be issues with any system like this. I also think encouraging and training physicians and other health care professionals in speaking multiple languages would be great too. However, I think that it would be unrealistic to expect employees to collectively speak almost every language in a clinic. Perhaps, main ones that focus on populations it serves would work best.
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