Language, culture pose health-care challenges in Tennessee

http://www.tennessean.com/article/20081215/BUSINESS01/812150321/1003/NEWS01

If Dr. Charlie McKay had a holiday wish list for the cancer-care practice that he runs, the top request would probably be a Hispanic oncologist, or at least one fluent in Spanish.

With his offices in the diverse community off Nolensville Road, it's not unusual for McKay to encounter patients who don't speak English. And that can pose challenges to delivery of care.

McKay's experience reflects how physicians and other health-care providers are facing language and other barriers arising from fast growth in Nashville's immigrant population. As a result, they're hiring interpreters and front-desk staff who speak languages from Arabic to Somali, signing up for services that offer telephone-based translators or send in-person interpreters, or adding satellite clinics in diverse areas of Nashville.

Read more at the Tennessean.com.

Tags: Tennessean.com
Topics: Cultural Competence, Health Care, Health Care Access, Immigrants, Language, Public Health, Translation