Imagine not being able to communicate effectively with those around you. What would you do if you were in danger or needed help? Now imagine working in a healthcare setting; an individual enters the room and is in obvious need of help. You lack the ability to communicate to understand what they need. Both situations bring a feeling of helplessness and most likely would not result in an optimal outcome.
Language barriers are associated with lower quality of care, poor clinical outcomes, longer hospital stays, and higher rates of hospital readmissions. Organizations must be prepared and equipped with a language access plan that spells out how they will communicate effectively to provide services to individuals who are non-English speaking or have limited English proficiency. A language access plan can help organizations meet federal and program regulations on providing language services and effective communication.
The important thing to remember is that a language access plan is not simply a document to ‘check the box’ for meeting regulations. It must be effective and tailored to your organization and the population you serve. The ongoing evaluation and updating of your language access plan is equally important. Before the next individual or staff member is left in a helpless situation, please consider these action items:
Call to Action
- Get familiar with your organization’s language action plan.
- Understand what tools and resources are available when you are serving individuals who have limited English proficiency.
- Evaluate your language access plan and make sure it still fits your organization and the population that you serve.
Additional Tools and Resources
- Guide to Developing A Language Access Plan – This Guide identifies ways that providers can assess their programs and develop language access plans to ensure persons with limited English proficiency have meaningful access to their programs.
- Introduction to Language Access Plans– 1 hour web-based training
- Course goals:
- Recognize why language access plans are important
- Identify common sections of a language access plan
- Identify 2 examples of language services
- Describe ways to evaluate language access efforts
- Course goals:
- LEP.gov – Federal landing page housing limited English proficiency information, tools and resources