Talk to Me – Addressing risk and cultural safety of language applications in the clinical setting
Monita Mascitti-Meuter1 1St Vincent’s Hospital Melbourne, Fitzroy, VIC, Australia
Abstract
At St Vincent’s Hospital Melbourne (SVHM) approximately 20% of patients require an interpreter of which on average 70% will have an interpreter provided at vital points of care. This lowers to 51% in mainstream residential facilities due to longer length of stay. The reduction potentially has a direct impact on increased risk. Growing data suggests that failure to provide language specific healthcare may cause miscommunication, often resulting in inappropriate or inadequate care provision and, in some cases, serious adverse events. Added to this, the COVID-19 pandemic posed further challenges: reduced interpreter services delivery and visitor allowance to hospitals and residential aged care facilities meant the already fragile sense of cultural safety of patients and residents who speak little or no English dissipated, exacerbating their vulnerability.
Based on qualitative data accrued from focus group outcomes, this paper assesses the Talk to Me Application (https://talktome.svhm.org.au) which was redeveloped by SVHM through a Connected Communities Grant of the City of Melbourne in 2021. Talk to Me provides language support during the continuum of patient care, between the key moments when an interpreter would be accessed. Importantly, it addresses the need for low risk, language specific care for the ageing Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CaLD) communities in Australia. Consisting of over 500 curated phrases with audio and translations provided by certified translators and interpreters, the communication centers on day-to-day healthcare topics and is available in 16 community languages. Most notably, it includes user interface for both healthcare professionals and patients/residents allowing two-way conversation.
Biography
Monita is the Cultural Inclusion Lead at St Vincent’s Hospital Melbourne. Multilingual, twice migrated and Cross-Cultural consultant by profession with 30 years’ experience in lecturing, teaching, training of health professionals, clients and students from diverse cultural backgrounds, her background includes both the practical and academic side of the cross-cultural experience.