LEP patients described interpreter unavailability causing delays that lengthen outpatient and emergency visits
Source
Brooks (2016). Patient Perspectives on the Need for and Barriers to Professional Medical Interpretation. Rhode Island Medical Journal.
Description #
In focus groups, LEP Spanish-speaking patients described limited interpreter availability as a direct cause of delays that lengthen outpatient and emergency-room visits, with interpretation especially absent in operative/procedural areas, ambulances, and specialty visits. This is a patient-reported, qualitative mechanism for the longer stays that quantitative studies of interpreter access measure.
"Participants described limited interpreter availability, causing delays that lengthen outpatient and emergency room visits. Access to interpretation was noted to be particularly absent in operative and procedural areas, ambulances, specialty visits and while participating in provider phone calls and navigating insurance enrollment." (Brooks, 2016, p. 31)
"A few participants expressed waiting in pain in the emergency room for hours, as medications could not be administered until an interpreted history was taken." (Brooks, 2016, p. 32)
Methods Context #
What? #ⓘ
The observable: patient-reported experiences of delay and prolonged visits attributed to interpreter unavailability — a qualitative account of how language access affects time-in-care.
"The goal of this study was to elicit patient narratives to better understand how patients experience inadequately interpreted clinical encounters." (Brooks, 2016, p. 30)
How? #ⓘ
Four semi-structured Spanish-language focus groups (4–7 participants each) with a moderator guide; transcripts coded with the immersion/crystallization method by multiple investigators to identify themes and representative quotations.
"In September of 2013 we conducted four focus groups in Spanish using a semi-structured moderator guide based on themes addressed in the medical literature and personal experiences in clinical settings." (Brooks, 2016, p. 30)
Who? #ⓘ
22 LEP Spanish-speaking adults (≥2 medical encounters in the prior 6 months) from Providence County, Rhode Island, from four countries/territories of origin; US residence 3 months–36 years; thematic saturation reached.
"Twenty-two focus group participants represented four countries/territories of origin: the Dominican Republic, Colombia, Guatemala and Puerto Rico." (Brooks, 2016, p. 31)
Other Notes #
A qualitative (perceived/experiential) mechanism, not a measured length-of-stay effect — it complements rather than substitutes for the cohort estimates (e.g. Lindholm, Daly) and is well suited to quote-grounded review.