Barriers to Health Equity: Access to language interpretation

Simple yet so complicated..

This week, HealthZone published an article about the critical role played by language interpretation in creating accessible and equitable health care. Although the importance of proper interpretation is well known, there remain major challenges in accessing and financing appropriate services.

Pointing to the informal family interpretation that often occurs, Axelle Janczur, Executive Director of Access Alliance Multicultural Health and Community Services, is quoted as saying "Doctors spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on their education and then ask a child to deliver a diagnosis."

Dr. Jose Silveira, director of Portuguese Mental Health and Addiction Services at the University Health Network, suggests that extensive damage is caused by the lack of interpretation. He notes that "[i]t is easier...to order a $1,400 CT scan than a translator ... even though that information will be more valuable than a CT scan...It's up to me to decide on enormously expensive medical tests. It's up to the hospital administration to decide on interpreters."

The article can be read here:
http://www.healthzone.ca/health/article/557666