Informed Consent and the Limited English Patient: A Pilot Project with Dental Hygiene Students to Assess Student Knowledge, Perceptions, and Attitudes

Informed consent is the process by which a patient agrees to or rejects a proposed plan of treatment after a discussion with the provider about the benefits, risks, and alternative treatments available. In the United States, a signed informed consent form is required before any treatment plan may be implemented. However, there is no literature addressing how students in health professions understand informed consent in the context of encounters with limited English proficient (LEP) patients. The purpose of this interprofessional, interdisciplinary pilot project was to explore and assess Idaho State University's dental hygiene students' knowledge, perceptions, and attitudes associated with the process of informed consent when working with LEP patients in a dental hygiene setting. Using mixed-methods methodology, we administered a pre-immersion survey to 28 second-year dental hygiene students. These students then participated in a simulated encounter with Spanish-speaking mock-patients and trained interpreters. After the immersive experience, students completed a post-immersion survey. Study results indicate overall positive increases in student knowledge, perceptions, and attitudes toward various aspects of the provider-LEP patient encounter.