Phrasebook apps' single translation direction prevented staff from understanding patient responses
Source
Hwang (2022). Testing the use of translation apps to overcome everyday healthcare communication in Australian aged-care hospital wards-An exploratory study. Nursing Open.
Description #
Under the "Communication" theme, a prominent reported barrier was that patients would reply in their native language after the app was used, but the fixed-phrase (phrasebook) apps CALD Assist and Talk To Me translate in only one direction. Their single translation direction left staff unable to translate and understand the patient's response, further causing a communication barrier.
"For staff who were using CALD Assist and Talk To Me, the singular direction of the translation apps meant they were unable to translate and understand the response, further causing a communication barrier: "It [translation app] can't translate the patient's response once it is used for patients to communicate" (Nurse 2, site 1)." (Hwang, 2022, p. 582)
Methods Context #
What? #ⓘ
The observable: bidirectionality of communication, characterized qualitatively as whether staff could understand the patient's spoken response after using the app.
"there was some difficulty conveying messages. A prominent reported barrier was that often patients would reply in their native language when the translation app was used." (Hwang, 2022, p. 582)
How? #ⓘ
Inductive qualitative content analysis of open-ended survey and observation responses coded under the "Communication" theme; the apps in question were the fixed-phrase phrasebook systems A-0018ArtifactA-0018Initial AI draftCALD Assist translation appA mobile healthcare translation app used by ward staff to communicate low-risk, everyday care messages to older CALD patients with limited English proficiency when a professional interpreter is not available or feasible.… and A-0017ArtifactA-0017Initial AI draftTalk To Me translation appA mobile healthcare translation app used by ward staff to convey low-risk everyday care messages to older CALD patients with limited English proficiency in the absence of a professional interpreter. "Talk To Me was devel….
"Both translation apps work like a phrasebook, with a selection of carefully chosen healthcare-related phrases translated to a target language." (Hwang, 2022, p. 580)
Who? #ⓘ
Nursing/allied health staff interacting with older CALD patients with limited English proficiency on four aged-care hospital wards, reporting via survey and observation.
"Communication refers to the conveying of messages between healthcare staff and patient, facilitated by the translation app." (Hwang, 2022, p. 582)
Other Notes #
The paper contrasts this with Google Translate, which could translate patient responses but did so slowly and with difficulty (see the parallel Google Translate EVD).
Caveats #
- Observational data may be subject to selective reporting bias The study set no specific rules governing when observations of app use were collected, leaving observation to staff discretion in a busy, unpredictable ward. The authors caution that the observational data may therefore be subject to selective reporting bias, which constrains how representative the recorded interactions and the descriptive usage/engagement findings are of app use overall.