Prominent physicians suggest that health disparities of Latino children with ADHD could be correlated to cultural factors as reported at the annual conference of the National Hispanic Medical Association. According to Dr. Andres J. Pumariega, chairman of the psychiatry department at Cooper University Hospital in Camden, N.J., and an expert in cultural diversity and mental health, ADHD is typically diagnosed through parental reporting. Cultural misconceptions might prevent parents from recognizing or acknowledging the illness in their children. Parents often believe ADHD is misdiagnosed in Latino children, but they often think that it is being over-diagnosed, and data from more objective studies actually point to it being under-diagnosed. The reported rate of ADHD among Latino youth being low is misleading.
During the same conference, Dr. Eugenio M. Rothe, professor of psychiatry and public health at Florida International University, Miami, suggests that disparities in treatment between Latino youth and their white counterparts might be tied to several factors, including language barriers and a lack of parental understanding. Dr. Rothe also cited a national survey conducted by Harris Interactive that found that Latinos were less likely to be familiar with ADHD and nearly 10% less likely to know where to obtain treatment. He also suggested that ADHD can contribute to some of the psychosocial problems of Latino youth, including school dropout rates, teen pregnancy rates and substance abuse.
How can health disparities be reduced? Leading physicians recommend bridging the gap by offering patient education materials in Spanish and increasing the number of Spanish-speaking health care professionals. The materials would also have to be culturally relevant to make an impact. It could be years before Spanish-speaking health care professionals accommodate the sheer number of Latino patients. In the meantime, it would behoove the health care industry to be culturally competent. If health care providers can comprehend the importance of values in the Latino culture, this can be significant. Recognizing strong family ties and acknowledging respect and trust as inherent to a high quality relationship will make a difference. It can certainly be a step toward reducing health disparities.
MUR
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
Dear Technology - Part 2
Dear Technology,
Well, you’ve done it again.
Now you’ve gone and messed with our language. Will your madness never end?
The current generation of learners uses you to learn to speak, read and write.
You’ve infiltrated our diction as well. Your fancy lingo has permeated our daily verbiage. “Texting”, “sexting” and “facebooking” are not terms someone having survived the Great Depression would necessarily understand nor want to know.
Of course, you giveth and you taketh away.
Adding to our vocabulary is one thing but making us grammatically dumb is another altogether. Your texting and smartphone technology has modified how we express ourselves in written form. When you limit us to 140 words: punctuation & grammar r 1st 2go.
No one uses commas anymore. I must admit, sometimes that’s a good thing.
Small children exist in this world that have never actually held a book in their hands. They hold a Kindle or an iPad and touch a screen to turn pages in their Cat In The Hat.
Knowing nothing but high tech, they will expect high tech in return. Next they will expect their devices to talk back to them. Knowing you, you’ll do it too.
Or will you?
To talk back to us, first you have to understand us.
Sure, you can use your analytical skills to analyze our frequency of word use and derive patterns that intimate what we are trying to say. But do you truly understand?
You are akin to a good machine translation. You recognize a pattern and repeat it, but do you really get the nuances behinds the words?
Culture is not something you know because in your clinical mainframe world, it doesn’t exist. Your point of reference is purely analytical and language is so much more than that.
Language is backed by hundreds of thousands of years of history. It’s an organic, ever-changing entity that cannot be replicated.
Good luck with that.
Sincerely,
aiaTranslations
Well, you’ve done it again.
Now you’ve gone and messed with our language. Will your madness never end?
The current generation of learners uses you to learn to speak, read and write.
You’ve infiltrated our diction as well. Your fancy lingo has permeated our daily verbiage. “Texting”, “sexting” and “facebooking” are not terms someone having survived the Great Depression would necessarily understand nor want to know.
Of course, you giveth and you taketh away.
Adding to our vocabulary is one thing but making us grammatically dumb is another altogether. Your texting and smartphone technology has modified how we express ourselves in written form. When you limit us to 140 words: punctuation & grammar r 1st 2go.
No one uses commas anymore. I must admit, sometimes that’s a good thing.
Small children exist in this world that have never actually held a book in their hands. They hold a Kindle or an iPad and touch a screen to turn pages in their Cat In The Hat.
Knowing nothing but high tech, they will expect high tech in return. Next they will expect their devices to talk back to them. Knowing you, you’ll do it too.
Or will you?
To talk back to us, first you have to understand us.
Sure, you can use your analytical skills to analyze our frequency of word use and derive patterns that intimate what we are trying to say. But do you truly understand?
You are akin to a good machine translation. You recognize a pattern and repeat it, but do you really get the nuances behinds the words?
Culture is not something you know because in your clinical mainframe world, it doesn’t exist. Your point of reference is purely analytical and language is so much more than that.
Language is backed by hundreds of thousands of years of history. It’s an organic, ever-changing entity that cannot be replicated.
Good luck with that.
Sincerely,
aiaTranslations
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
Fear Is Not An Option
If half the time you asked for directions, they were wrong and you got lost, you would be upset, right? What if half the time, it resulted in you bleeding in a ditch on the wrong side of town? Upset would no longer describe what you are feeling. Fear might.
Most people take prescription medication hoping to feel better, yet for non-English speakers, mistakenly translated prescription labels can make taking their meds a fearful experience.
According to a 2010 study of Bronx pharmacies conducted by Iman Sharif while at Montefiore Medical Center, the computer programs used to translate prescription labels had an overall error rate of 50%.
If “once a day” gets translated to “eleven times a day”, that’s close enough, right? What can it hurt if its not right? I’m sure eleven doses of an anti-seizure medication would be fine.
The software helps them comply with legal requirements to provide translation services but is it true compliance if half the time it’s incorrect and potentially lethal?
If you end up in a hospital or clinic, most states require non-English speakers receive translation services. Pharmacies, however, do not fall under this domain. Only one state, California, legislates translation services be provided in pharmacies.
In New York City, the Language Access in Pharmacies Act requires pharmacies with four or more locations provide non-English speakers with free and accurately translated labels, warnings, ingredients and brochures. They also must post signs in English, Spanish, Chinese, Korean, Russian, Polish, Italian and French stating they provide such services.
The advocacy groups that implemented this Act, Make the Road New York and New York Lawyers for the Public Interest are currently pushing to expand this legislation to the rest of the state. To check their efficacy, the groups surveyed seven national chain pharmacies with 250 branches in New York State and found in locations outside NYC, about 50% of the pharmacies did not supply translated drug labels and 30% did not provide interpretation services.
Taking prescription medicines should not involve fear. "It's easy to be seriously injured or killed by your medication," said Assemblyman Richard Gottfried (D-Manhatten) who recently reintroduced the bill to expand the legislation.
“Folks are not getting the language services that they need,” said Theo Oshiro of Director of Health Advocacy and Support Services for Make the Road New York. “They are not able to take their medicines or are hurting themselves because they don’t understand the language that is used. If you are not providing language services to these folks, you are not counseling them appropriately."
Most people take prescription medication hoping to feel better, yet for non-English speakers, mistakenly translated prescription labels can make taking their meds a fearful experience.
According to a 2010 study of Bronx pharmacies conducted by Iman Sharif while at Montefiore Medical Center, the computer programs used to translate prescription labels had an overall error rate of 50%.
If “once a day” gets translated to “eleven times a day”, that’s close enough, right? What can it hurt if its not right? I’m sure eleven doses of an anti-seizure medication would be fine.
The software helps them comply with legal requirements to provide translation services but is it true compliance if half the time it’s incorrect and potentially lethal?
If you end up in a hospital or clinic, most states require non-English speakers receive translation services. Pharmacies, however, do not fall under this domain. Only one state, California, legislates translation services be provided in pharmacies.
In New York City, the Language Access in Pharmacies Act requires pharmacies with four or more locations provide non-English speakers with free and accurately translated labels, warnings, ingredients and brochures. They also must post signs in English, Spanish, Chinese, Korean, Russian, Polish, Italian and French stating they provide such services.
The advocacy groups that implemented this Act, Make the Road New York and New York Lawyers for the Public Interest are currently pushing to expand this legislation to the rest of the state. To check their efficacy, the groups surveyed seven national chain pharmacies with 250 branches in New York State and found in locations outside NYC, about 50% of the pharmacies did not supply translated drug labels and 30% did not provide interpretation services.
Taking prescription medicines should not involve fear. "It's easy to be seriously injured or killed by your medication," said Assemblyman Richard Gottfried (D-Manhatten) who recently reintroduced the bill to expand the legislation.
“Folks are not getting the language services that they need,” said Theo Oshiro of Director of Health Advocacy and Support Services for Make the Road New York. “They are not able to take their medicines or are hurting themselves because they don’t understand the language that is used. If you are not providing language services to these folks, you are not counseling them appropriately."
Monday, May 2, 2011
Caring for the Health of Latino Patients
According the U.S. Census Bureau, Latinos are the fastest growing minority population in the U. S. Already approaching 17%, it is projected that by the year 2050, the figure will be 24% with Latinos comprising the largest minority group in 20 of the 50 states. Another interesting statistic is that this population is young in comparison to the general U.S. population, which means more child-bearing age groups. The rising population numbers are indicative of increasing health issues across the board. This means that the health care industry should be prepared to address a population with unique cultural factors and various degrees of biculturalism.
Some illnesses are more prevalent in the Latino population. For example, there are higher rates of diabetes, tuberculosis, hypertension, HIV/AIDS, alcoholism and cirrhosis. For a variety of reasons, many Hispanic patients may delay medical care until their condition worsens and necessitates immediate attention. Some factors that delay or prevent health care include poverty, lack of health insurance and limited access to health care. Along with serious illness, crisis and emotional stress, the complexity of navigating the medical system becomes even more complicated.
The language barrier is another cultural factor that prevents Latino patients from experiencing effective communication with their health care provider. Medical terminology is not always easily understood by mainstream and even less so for Spanish-speakers. Health care professionals who speak Spanish are few in number even though a total of 35 million speak Spanish at home. Cultural factors may also be correlated to delay or lack of doctor visits such as a belief system that some health issues are natural and therefore, do not necessitate medical attention. For example, folk medicine and traditional healers are common practices in some Latino sub-cultures. The culture is broad and unique posing many challenges. Health care providers need to be careful not to allow any characterizations of values, customs or beliefs dominate the way they deliver health care services to such a diverse group. It is noteworthy for health care professionals to keep in mind that each person is unique.
Maria Ugarte-Ramos
Some illnesses are more prevalent in the Latino population. For example, there are higher rates of diabetes, tuberculosis, hypertension, HIV/AIDS, alcoholism and cirrhosis. For a variety of reasons, many Hispanic patients may delay medical care until their condition worsens and necessitates immediate attention. Some factors that delay or prevent health care include poverty, lack of health insurance and limited access to health care. Along with serious illness, crisis and emotional stress, the complexity of navigating the medical system becomes even more complicated.
The language barrier is another cultural factor that prevents Latino patients from experiencing effective communication with their health care provider. Medical terminology is not always easily understood by mainstream and even less so for Spanish-speakers. Health care professionals who speak Spanish are few in number even though a total of 35 million speak Spanish at home. Cultural factors may also be correlated to delay or lack of doctor visits such as a belief system that some health issues are natural and therefore, do not necessitate medical attention. For example, folk medicine and traditional healers are common practices in some Latino sub-cultures. The culture is broad and unique posing many challenges. Health care providers need to be careful not to allow any characterizations of values, customs or beliefs dominate the way they deliver health care services to such a diverse group. It is noteworthy for health care professionals to keep in mind that each person is unique.
Maria Ugarte-Ramos
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