“Language access” allows service providers to communicate with patients or clients who speak limited English.
You assure language access when you provide:
Interpreters, such as
- Staff interpreters
- Dual-role interpreters (bilingual staff, hired for another purpose, who have been trained to interpret when necessary)
- Freelance interpreters
- Telephonic interpreters
- Video interpreters
Bilingual service providers
Whose language skills have been screened and documented.
Translated documents, such as
- Consent forms
- Discharge instructions
- Patient instructions
- Prescriptions
- Patient rights forms
- Financial statements
Multilingual or pictorial signage
- Where’s the Emergency Department?
- How do we find Pediatrics?
- Is the cafeteria down this way?
Multilingual phone options
- For English, press one
- Para español, oprima el número 2
- Pour le français, aprete le numero 3
Anything you do that helps bridge a language barrier creates language access.