Resident Communication With Patients and Families Preferring Languages Other Than English

Area of Science:

• Medical Communication
• Health Equity
• Pediatric Healthcare

Background:

• Patients and families preferring languages other than English (LOE) often face communication barriers in healthcare settings.
• Underutilization of professional interpretation services exacerbates these inequities.
• Understanding resident communication patterns is crucial for improving care for LOE populations.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess resident perceptions of communication with families preferring LOE.
• To determine the impact of language preference on the frequency of resident-patient/family interactions.
• To identify communication disparities in a quaternary care children's hospital.

Main Methods:

• Cross-sectional study at a children's hospital.
• Development of resident questionnaires and a communication tracking tool.
• Logistic and Poisson regression models for data analysis.

Main Results:

• Over 30% of residents sometimes or usually communicated without professional interpretation.
• Patients/families preferring LOE were less likely to be present on rounds (aOR=0.17).
• Patients/families preferring LOE received fewer post-rounds updates (aOR=0.29) and overall updates (IRR=0.45).

Conclusions:

• Significant communication inequities exist for hospitalized patients and families preferring LOE.
• Targeted interventions are needed to ensure equitable communication.
• The role of residents in addressing these disparities requires consideration.