Twenty-second International Conference on Diversity in Organizations, Communities & Nations

Abstract

At St Vincent’s Hospital Melbourne (SVHM) approximately 20% of patients require an interpreter of which on average 70% will have an interpreter provided at vital points of care. This lowers to 51% in mainstream residential facilities due to longer length of stay. The reduction potentially has a direct impact on increased risk. Growing data suggests that failure to provide language specific healthcare may cause miscommunication, often resulting in inappropriate or inadequate care provision and, in some cases, serious adverse events. Added to this, the COVID-19 pandemic poses further challenges: reduced interpreter services delivery and visitor allowance to hospitals and residential aged care facilities has meant the already fragile sense of cultural safety of patients and residents who speak little or no English has dissipated, exacerbating their vulnerability. This case study introduces and explores the benefits of the SVHM Talk to Me Progressive Web Application which addresses the need for low risk, language specific care for the ageing Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CaLD) communities in Australia. The application assists communication during the continuum of patient care, between the key moments when an interpreter would be accessed. Consisting of over 500 curated phrases with audio and translations provided by certified translators and interpreters, the communication centers on day-to-day healthcare topics and is available in 12 community languages. Most notably, it includes user interface for both healthcare professionals and patients/residents allowing two-way conversation.