Language and Health Equity during COVID-19: Lessons and Opportunities. Ortega, P., Martínez, G., & Diamond, L. Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved, 31(4):1530–1535, 2020. 00000
doi  abstract   bibtex   
Racial and ethnic health inequities have been magnified during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Linguistic barriers are a recognized source of health inequities for ethnic minority communities whose health communication needs cannot be adequately met in the majority language. Emergency circumstances, such as respiratory distress and end-of-life care, carry elevated risk of medical error due to miscommunication and are increasingly common during the current pandemic. We have identified three key opportunities to improve health equity for linguistic minority populations as a result of the COVID-19 public health crisis: patient and clinician language data collection in health systems, linguistically and culturally appropriate public health messaging, and health care workforce communication skills education.
@article{ortega_language_2020,
	title = {Language and {Health} {Equity} during {COVID}-19: {Lessons} and {Opportunities}},
	volume = {31},
	issn = {1548-6869},
	shorttitle = {Language and {Health} {Equity} during {COVID}-19},
	doi = {10/ghvg37},
	abstract = {Racial and ethnic health inequities have been magnified during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Linguistic barriers are a recognized source of health inequities for ethnic minority communities whose health communication needs cannot be adequately met in the majority language. Emergency circumstances, such as respiratory distress and end-of-life care, carry elevated risk of medical error due to miscommunication and are increasingly common during the current pandemic. We have identified three key opportunities to improve health equity for linguistic minority populations as a result of the COVID-19 public health crisis: patient and clinician language data collection in health systems, linguistically and culturally appropriate public health messaging, and health care workforce communication skills education.},
	language = {eng},
	number = {4},
	journal = {Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved},
	author = {Ortega, Pilar and Martínez, Glenn and Diamond, Lisa},
	year = {2020},
	pmid = {33416734},
	note = {00000 },
	keywords = {Humans, Communication Barriers, Language, United States, Physician-Patient Relations, Health Status Disparities, Continental Population Groups, Ethnic Groups, Health Equity, COVID-19, Minority Groups},
	pages = {1530--1535},
	annote = {Intro: Linguistic barriers are significant contributor to covid-19 related health disparities in racial/ethnic minority communities whose communication needs cannot be met in English
three key opportunities to improve health equity for LEP populations as a result of the COVID-19 public health crisis: 1) patient and clinician language data collection in health systems, 2) linguistically and culturally appropriate public health messaging, and 3) health care workforce communication skills education.
1) Language data collection in health services: propose that accurate and consistent collection of language data about clinicians and patients be enforced in order to facilitate health system preparedness and accountability to meet the communication needs of patients with LEP who are particularly vulnerable to poor health outcomes during limited-resource crisis situations.
2) Linguistically and culturally appropriate public health messaging: We propose that public health departments, health systems, and health policy leaders collaborate with community organizations, patients, and clinicians, to ensure that public health communications are inclusive of the social, cultural, and linguistic realities of minority populations.
3) Health care workforce communications skills education: propose that medical schools and other health professions programs implement and evaluate educational approaches—including virtual strategies—to teach and assess the linguistic and cultural communication skills of medical students and other clinicians as a strategy to improve language-concordant and culturally appropriate care for minorities both during and after the pandemic.
Conclusion: these opportunities have the potential to create a long-lasting impact in health care and medical education systems and to improve health equity for vulnerable linguistic minority communities well beyond the current pandemic.},
	annote = {J Health Care Poor Underserved . 2020;31(4):1530-1535. doi: 10.1353/hpu.2020.0114. Language and Health Equity during COVID-19: Lessons and Opportunities},
	annote = {J Health Care Poor Underserved . 2020;31(4):1530-1535. doi: 10.1353/hpu.2020.0114. Language and Health Equity during COVID-19: Lessons and Opportunities Pilar Ortega, Glenn Martínez, Lisa Diamond}
}

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