| Autor: |
Villalona S; Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Piscataway, NJ, USA., Castañeda H; Department of Anthropology, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL, USA., Wilson JW; Emergency Department, Tampa General Hospital, Tampa, FL, USA.; Department of Internal Medicine, Morsani College of Medicine at the University of South Florida, Tampa, FL, USA., Romero-Daza N; Department of Anthropology, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL, USA., Yanez Yuncosa M; Department of Anthropology, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL, USA., Jeannot C; Emergency Department, Tampa General Hospital, Tampa, FL, USA. |
| Abstrakt: |
Introduction: The emergency department (ED) is one clinical setting where issues pertaining to health communication uniquely manifest themselves on a daily basis. This pilot study sought to understand satisfaction with care, perceptions of medical staff concern, awareness, and comprehension of medical care among Spanish-speaking patients with limited English-language proficiency (LEP). Methods: A two-phase, mixed-methods approach was employed among Spanish-speaking patients with LEP that presented to an ED in West Central Florida. The prospective phase consisted of semistructured interviews ( n = 25). The retrospective phase analyzed existing patient satisfaction data collected at the study site ( n = 4,940). Results: Content analysis revealed several linguistic barriers among this patient population including limited individual autonomy, self-blame for being unable to effectively articulate concerns, and lack of clarity in understanding follow-up care plans. Retrospective analysis suggested differences between responses from Spanish-speaking patients when compared with their English-speaking counterparts. Conclusions: Our findings suggest discordance between satisfaction and health literacy in this unique patient population. Although high satisfaction was reported, this appeared to be secondary to comprehension of follow-up care instructions. |
