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Access to Translator (AT&T) project: Interpreter on Wheels during the COVID-19 pandemic

We report our experience in using virtual technology in our emergency department (ED) to meet communication needs of our patients who have limited English proficiency (LEP) during the COVID-19 pandemic. Our project aim was to improve communication between our ED staff and patients who have LEP. Spec...

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Autores principales: Kwok, Matthew Mo Kin, Chan, Richard K, Hansen, Cindy, Thibault, Kris, Wong, Hing Yi
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: BMJ Publishing Group 2021
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7871042/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33547156
http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmjoq-2020-001062
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author Kwok, Matthew Mo Kin
Chan, Richard K
Hansen, Cindy
Thibault, Kris
Wong, Hing Yi
author_facet Kwok, Matthew Mo Kin
Chan, Richard K
Hansen, Cindy
Thibault, Kris
Wong, Hing Yi
author_sort Kwok, Matthew Mo Kin
collection PubMed
description We report our experience in using virtual technology in our emergency department (ED) to meet communication needs of our patients who have limited English proficiency (LEP) during the COVID-19 pandemic. Our project aim was to improve communication between our ED staff and patients who have LEP. Specifically, our primary aim was to eliminate the use of healthcare staff as ad hoc interpreters by 50% in our ED by using virtual medical interpreters within 2 months. To achieve our goal, several strategies were employed. First, we assessed the need for interpreters in our ED by tracking the number of times our nursing staff is pulled away from their nursing role to help other staff as an ad hoc interpreter. Second, a patient survey was conducted to understand their thoughts and needs for interpretation in the ED. Third, we developed strategies in improving access to interpreters in our ED. During the COVID-19 pandemic, we conducted a trial of using ‘Interpreter on Wheels’ (IOW) in our ED. In a 2-month period, we had 477 virtual interpretation encounters totaling 4123 interpretation minutes of IOW usage. We found that it satisfied not only our communication needs but also reduced some of our potential infection control risks during the pandemic.
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spelling pubmed-78710422021-02-09 Access to Translator (AT&T) project: Interpreter on Wheels during the COVID-19 pandemic Kwok, Matthew Mo Kin Chan, Richard K Hansen, Cindy Thibault, Kris Wong, Hing Yi BMJ Open Qual Quality Improvement Report We report our experience in using virtual technology in our emergency department (ED) to meet communication needs of our patients who have limited English proficiency (LEP) during the COVID-19 pandemic. Our project aim was to improve communication between our ED staff and patients who have LEP. Specifically, our primary aim was to eliminate the use of healthcare staff as ad hoc interpreters by 50% in our ED by using virtual medical interpreters within 2 months. To achieve our goal, several strategies were employed. First, we assessed the need for interpreters in our ED by tracking the number of times our nursing staff is pulled away from their nursing role to help other staff as an ad hoc interpreter. Second, a patient survey was conducted to understand their thoughts and needs for interpretation in the ED. Third, we developed strategies in improving access to interpreters in our ED. During the COVID-19 pandemic, we conducted a trial of using ‘Interpreter on Wheels’ (IOW) in our ED. In a 2-month period, we had 477 virtual interpretation encounters totaling 4123 interpretation minutes of IOW usage. We found that it satisfied not only our communication needs but also reduced some of our potential infection control risks during the pandemic. BMJ Publishing Group 2021-02-04 /pmc/articles/PMC7871042/ /pubmed/33547156 http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmjoq-2020-001062 Text en © Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2021. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/This is an open access article distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited, appropriate credit is given, any changes made indicated, and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/.
spellingShingle Quality Improvement Report
Kwok, Matthew Mo Kin
Chan, Richard K
Hansen, Cindy
Thibault, Kris
Wong, Hing Yi
Access to Translator (AT&T) project: Interpreter on Wheels during the COVID-19 pandemic
title Access to Translator (AT&T) project: Interpreter on Wheels during the COVID-19 pandemic
title_full Access to Translator (AT&T) project: Interpreter on Wheels during the COVID-19 pandemic
title_fullStr Access to Translator (AT&T) project: Interpreter on Wheels during the COVID-19 pandemic
title_full_unstemmed Access to Translator (AT&T) project: Interpreter on Wheels during the COVID-19 pandemic
title_short Access to Translator (AT&T) project: Interpreter on Wheels during the COVID-19 pandemic
title_sort access to translator (at&t) project: interpreter on wheels during the covid-19 pandemic
topic Quality Improvement Report
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7871042/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33547156
http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmjoq-2020-001062
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