An Article: Poor English can hurt you.
09:20 AM EDT on Tuesday, August 24, 2010
By Margret Chang and Edward Feller
Le duele la cabeza?” (Does your head hurt?), asks the doctor, using her high-school Spanish. Her linguistic skills, however, are inadequate to understand the patient’s complex, colloquial response. Misdiagnosis and tragedy ensue. Should the language you speak determine the quality of your medical care?
Unfortunately, for millions of Americans, it often does.
As many as 50 million Americans speak a language other than English at home; of these, almost half have limited English proficiency, meaning that they have difficulty reading, speaking, writing or understanding English. For such people, it is a challenge to navigate the U.S. health-care system. Add the vulnerability that comes with sickness, and it is little surprise that the result is a lower quality of health care.
Why should we care? Consequences from this linguistic divide are numerous. They include less frequent screening and such preventive care as immunizations, more treatment errors, higher risk of hospitalization from emergency visits and greater medication complications and non-compliance. The results are higher costs, lower satisfaction and worse health outcomes. Furthermore, populations with limited English proficiency often do not receive valuable health education messages or culturally appropriate care — factors leading to increased risk for preventable diseases.
The issue of English fluency is near and dear to Rhode Islanders. In addition to a large Spanish-speaking population, the state has a substantial number of Cape Verdeans, Portuguese, Southeast Asians and other non-English-speakers who need better interpretation services. A typical urban hospital may treat patients who speak 40 to 60 different languages.
…Click this link to read this article in its entirety.
Van der Sloot Case Has “Ground to a Halt,” Say Reports
August 23, 2010
Posted by Carlin Miller
NEW YORK (CBS/WIAT) The legal process against Joran van der Sloot has “ground to a halt,” and not because of the impending ruling on his appeal, according to reports.
PICTURES: Van der Sloot Hotel Room Crime Scene
The Dutch news website Dutchnews.nl reports that Maximo Altez, van der Sloot’s attorney, told Peruvian TV station Panamericana Television that case is stagnating because no official interpreter can be found.
The Peruvian station showed a letter from the Peruvian association of translators and interpreters which said it has no one who can translate from Spanish into Dutch.
It also showed a letter from the Dutch embassy in which it says it has no official interpreter available, according to the Dutch website. The Dutch Embassy says it provides a list of lawyers and interpreters to national abroad facing criminal charges but does not provide the interpreters themselves, according to Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf.
CBS Affiliate WIAT Contributed to This Report.
Link to this article on CBSNEWS.
Finding the power of words.
August 20, 2010
By Danielle Dreilinger, Boston Globe Correspondent
You expect a 5’10″ woman to have a commanding presence. But Kathleen Portillo, 18, doesn’t come across as tall. As she stood in the Assembly Square Bed, Bath & Beyond, poking extra-long twin comforters and comparing prices against her checking account, there was a quietness about her presence, if a loudness to her towel choice: teal and hot pink.
If you’ve attended a city meeting in the last few years, you might have seen Portillo. She was at the July police chief candidate Q&A; at the city’s Martin Luther King Jr. celebration; at health fairs. At all these events, she’s done work that requires a blend of assertiveness and effacement: interpreting the proceedings into Spanish for the Welcome Project’s Liaison Interpreter Program of Somerville.
Next month, the personal growth she’s gained through the job has taken her from shyness to Union College in Schenectady, N.Y. — with a full-tuition Posse Foundation scholarship.
LIPS began several years ago when activist Alex Pirie began hiring bilingual teens to interpret for his organization Immigrant Service Providers Group/Health. About two years ago, the immigrant advocacy-focused Welcome Project formalized the program, said youth programs coordinator Maria Landaverde. This past year, 17 students interpreted in six languages: Spanish, Portuguese, Haitian Kreyol, Nepali, Hindi, and Mandarin.
Continue reading article in its entirety here.
