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Language Accommodations for Limited English Proficient Patients in Rural Health Care

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Abstract

Over 25 million individuals living in America are limited English proficient, many of whom live in rural communities. Adequate language accommodations are critical to providing effective healthcare for these populations. An online questionnaire was delivered to 42 rural facilities in Washington State. It included questions about their demand for language services, modalities of interpretation, translated documentation and barriers to providing accommodations. Fifteen of 42 (35.7%) responded. Spanish, Russian, Vietnamese, Japanese, Ukrainian and Mam were encountered daily. Telephonic and virtual remote interpreter services were the most widely available. Not all facilities had vital documents translated to frequently encountered languages. Challenges to providing language access were reported by nearly all participants. The rural facilities surveyed all encountered LEP patient populations and offered oral interpretation. Overall, these facilities were meeting requirements for providing language accommodation services. Even so, many facilities reported experiencing barriers to providing these services.

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The authors received no extramural financial support for this research.

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Correspondence to Kenneth P. Roberts.

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No potential conflicts of interests were reported by the authors.

Ethical Approval

The Washington State University Human Research Protection Program determined that the study (No.18422-001) met criteria for Exempt Research under Exempt 45-CFR 46.104 (d) 2 (i).

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Tran, AV., Roberts, K.P. Language Accommodations for Limited English Proficient Patients in Rural Health Care. J Immigrant Minority Health 25, 674–679 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10903-022-01416-7

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