Bridging Language Barriers in Health Care
NCM and Bendixen & Associates Survey
NCM, Posted: Jul 25, 2003
California Immigrants Surveyed in Multiple Languages on Language Access in Health Care
- Presentation of Survey (pdf)
- Executive Summary (pdf)
- Media Cover NCM Multilingual Poll on Language Barriers in Health Care
A new multilingual poll of California immigrants commissioned by NCM, a coalition of over 500 ethnic news organizations, found that a majority of all California immigrants are unaware that they have a right to ask for an interpreter when seeking medical care. Yet that right has been the law ever since the 1964 Civil Rights Act banned discrimination on the basis of national origin.
The poll, conducted by noted Spanish language pollster Sergio Bendixen, is the first ever to study the role of language barriers in health care as reported by immigrants. Some 1200 Californians representing roughly 7 of the 9 million immigrants living in California were surveyed by telephone in 11 languages and dialects including Armenian, Cantonese, Cambodian, Mandarin, Hmong, Korean, Farsi, Russian, Spanish, Tagalog and Vietnamese. The multilingual poll was funded by The California Endowment, a statewide health foundation.
“Medical care is rated as the most important issue by California immigrants – in contrast to the general population which ranks it well below education and unemployment. And the poll found a direct correlation between a person’s ability to speak English and the quality of health care he or she receives,” Bendixen says.
“Among Hispanics, the state’s largest immigrant group, the language barriers are even higher than expected,” says Bendixen, who has been conducting Spanish language polls for more than a decade. “Some 74% of Hispanic immigrants told us that they spoke English “not well or not at all.” According to the poll, half of Cambodians, Koreans, Chinese and Hmong also reported serious problems speaking English. However, the majority of immigrants have taken classes to improve their fluency in English: 84% of Iranians, 82% of Vietnamese and 80% of Cambodians.
“When you combine these language problems with lack of access to medical insurance, the groups facing the greatest problems accessing quality health care are Hispanics and Koreans,” Bendixen concludes. But the issue of language barriers impacts all groups, he adds. Which is why at least one third of all immigrants interviewed rate the overall quality of health care they receive as poor or very poor – again, significantly lower than the general public ratings reported by a Gallup poll last year.
Not surprisingly, the NCM poll found that the vast majority of California immigrants rely on foreign language media as their primary source for information about health care. “The poll is a wakeup call for NCM,” says executive director Sandy Close. “It tells us not only that health care is the major source of anxiety – more than earning a living or getting their kids in school – for our audiences. It underscores ethnic media’s responsibility in alleviating that anxiety.”
The first step towards that end is a two-year NCM social marketing campaign also funded by the California Endowment that aims to increase immigrants’ awareness of their rights to language services in health care settings. Close is confident that ethnic media’s coverage of the issue – together with advertisements running during the next three months – will drive awareness up among all groups.
“We hope that this campaign will help to increase the use of medical interpreters by physicians, hospitals and other health providers. Greater use of medical interpreters will result in improve communications between doctors and patients, and result in the higher quality of medical care. As ethnic media promote greater awareness, and more Californians begin demanding language services, health care providers and the state will expand the very scanty infrastructure that now exists,” remarked Ignatius Bau, program officer at The Endowment.
Health care problems highlighted by the poll include:
- One out of three Koreans, Chinese, Vietnamese, Hmong and Hispanics report problems getting medical care when they need it.
- Close to three out of four Cambodians, more than half of Hmong, and more than one out of three Vietnamese, Koreans Chinese and Hispanics say they have problems understanding a medical situation when it’s not explained to them in their language.
- Over half of Iranians, Hmong and Hispanics say they are confused by instructions when discharged from hospitals.
- A third of all immigrants report confusion over how to use their prescription medicines – with over half of Iranians, Laotians and Hispanics reporting problems, and a majority of Hmong, Cambodians and Iranians reporting problems reading their prescription labels.
Sergio Bendixen, CEO, Bendixen & Associates
305-529-9916 (office) 305-441-7887 (cell)
Sandy Close, Executive Director, New California Media (NCM)
Phone: 415-503-4170
Ignatius Bau, Program Officer, The California Endowment
Phone: 818-932-3240
Patricia Johnson, COO, New California Media (NCM)
Phone: 415-503-4170
An Executive Summary of the poll results, along with background on previous NCM polls, is available at www.ncmonline.com/polls/
About New California Media
New California Media is an association of over 500 print, broadcast, and online ethnic media organizations founded in 1996 by the non-profit Pacific News Service. NCM’s goal is to raise the visibility of ethnic media, expand its access to the advertising dollar and promote an inter-ethnic editorial exchange. Each year, New California Media’s Expo and Awards showcase a who’s who of ethnic media, as well as leaders in multi-cultural marketing, elected officials, advertising agency executives, and mainstream media. NCM is supported by grants from the American Association of Advertising Agencies, the Ford Foundation, the James Irvine Foundation, the Annie E. Casey Foundation, the Community Technology Foundation, the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, the Wallace Alexander Gerbode Foundation, the Evelyn and Walter Haas Jr. Foundation, the San Francisco Foundation, the Walter and Elise Haas Fund, among others. Project partners include the USC Annenberg’s Institute for Justice and Journalism, the Center for Integration and Improvement of Journalism at San Francisco State, and the Chinese American Voter Registration Committee. For more information, visit the website at www.ncmonline.com.
About The California Endowment
The California Endowment, a private, statewide health foundation, was established in 1996 to expand access to affordable, quality health care for underserved individuals and communities, and to promote fundamental improvements in the health status of all Californians. For more information, visit www.calendow.org.
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User Comments
Grace Carone on Aug 28, 2003 at 04:53:16 said:
It is appalling that the greatest country on earth has the worst health care solutions for its people. Not only are the immigrants at risk but also the citizens, old and young.
-->We have the worst Medicare System taking care of our parents, grandparents, etc. And the health system has deteriorated to a couple of incompetent HMOs. In truth I myself am turning to the Oriental medicines along with homeopathic ones to help my problems.
Only the rich can obtain health care that should be better than what the HMO's are giving us.
We need a clean up of the system. The AMA should start investigating the doctors- or so called doctors that are not credentialed and are practicing.
If we don't start from the bottom we cannot get to the top - I suggest that a clean up should be started right away.