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Effective Communications in Hospitals Initiative
Good medical care depends upon effective communication between doctors and patients. Currently, hospitals face greater than ever challenges in trying to meet the needs of persons with limited English proficiency (LEP) or who are deaf, hard of hearing, blind or visually impaired.
In 2006, KHA joined the American Hospital Association and the Office for Civil Rights, of the U.S. Health and Human Services Department, in their efforts to overcome those challenges and to address the growing needs of its member hospitals.
The Effective Communication in Hospitals Initiative is a nationwide undertaking in which 14 hospital associations, including Kentucky’s, are actively participating.
Increasingly, issues associated with language, literacy, culture and other aspects of diversity are being tied to quality and patient safety concerns. The links provided here contain tools and free information to support hospitals as they work to ensure effective communication and the highest quality care for patients who are LEP, deaf, hard of hearing, blind or visually impaired.
This toolkit includes many resources to help you better communicate with LEP patients:
- Immigrant vs. Refugee – What is the Difference
- Compliance/Accreditation From a Language Services Point of View
- Interpretation vs. Translation
- Types of Interpretation
- Communications Coordinator Resources
- KHA Medical Visual Language Translator
- Vital Documents
- Hospital Accreditation Requirements
Learn More
- ADA Amendments of 2010
- Effective Communication Requirements
- Highlights of the Final Rule to Amend the Department of Justice’s Regulation Implementing Title III of the ADA
- Definitions
- Dog Guides
- Free Radio Service for hospitals to offer blind, visually impaired or physically disabled patients)
- Kentucky Office for the Blind Regional Field Offices
- Living Will Audio Recording – Provided in-kind through the generous resources of the American Printing House for the Blind, this recording will help blind patients hear about Living Wills in Kentucky so they have a voice in decisions about their medical care
- MaxiAids
- Sensitivity to Blindness or Visual Impairment
- Suggested Sighted Guide Techniques
- What is CVI?
- Living with Vision Loss (American Foundation for the Blind)
- American Printing House for the Blind
- Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf
- ADA Guidance on Communicating with People who are Deaf/Hard of Hearing in Hospital Settings
- Kentucky Demographics – from the Kentucky Commission on the Deaf and Hard of Hearing (KCDHH)
- Kentucky Interpreter Directory – from the Kentucky Board of Interpreters for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing
- Assessment Tools
- HRET Disparities Toolkit – A toolkit for collecting race, ethnicity and primary language information from patients
- “I Speak” Language Cards
- I Speak Cards – Flashcard to determine the language the individual understands
- LEP Notification – Notification of Language Services
- OCJS Language Card – Tool to identify the language of individuals who do not speak English
- Kentucky Living Will
- Language Assistance Federal Guidelines
- LEP Guideline Summary – HHS Guideline Summary
- 2003 LEP Guidelines – Federal Register
- Language Assistance in Health Care Settings – Related Tools
- Carbon Monoxide Fact Sheets
- Pediatrics Interpreter Errors Article
- Language Barriers Lead to Medical Mistakes
- Code of Ethics (F-5)
- Joint Commission Paper Exploring Cultural and Linguistic Services in the Nation’s Hospitals
- Hires Handbook
- Language Resource Guide for Health Care Providers
- Language Services Access Kit – Interpreter Services in Health Care Settings for People with Limited English Proficiency
- Notice of Provision in Interpreter’s Services
- Palliative Care Brochure (National Institute of Nursing Research)
- Translated Health Information – Health Information Translations provides education resources in multiple languages for health care professionals and others to use in their communities. Resources are easy to read and culturally appropriate.
- How to Communicate so Your Patients Understand
- Long-Term Acute Care Hospitals (LTACH): A Step on the Road to Recovery
- Physical Rehabilitation and You (a patient guide for understanding various rehab settings)
- Back to School: Patient Education (from Georgetown University)
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- Achieving a Future of Global Health Literacy: University of Southern California Department of Nursing
- The Health Literacy of America’s Adults: Results from the 2003 National Assessment of Adult Literacy (2006)
- The Health Literacy of America’s Adults in the first release of the National Assessment of Adult Literacy (NAAL) health literacy results.
- Health Literacy and Plain Language Resources
- Health Literacy Practices in Primary Care Settings: Examples from the Field (2008)
- Identifies effective health literacy practices and provides interview and survey results from The Commonwealth Fund
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- Pinkbook: Making Health Communication Programs Work (2001)
- How to implement and assess a health communication program
- Proceedings of the Surgeon General’s Workshop on Improving Health Literacy (2006)
- Quick Guide to Health Literacy
- Pinkbook: Making Health Communication Programs Work (2001)
- Standardizing Medication Labels: Confusing Patients Less Workshop Summary ($30.25)
- What Did the Doctor Say? (2007)
- Provides tactics and suggests accountable personnel for compiling a program to increase health literacy
- HHS National action Plan to Improve Health Literacy
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- Health Literacy: Communication Tools/Techniques/Strategies (Nursing CEUs available for a fee)
- Health Literacy: Making Your Message More Understandable
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- Health Literacy: Patients Point of View – Case Study Evaluation (Nursing CEUs available for a fee)
- Health Literacy: Strategies to Enhance Communication (AAP and NAPNAP credits- $40 for AAP members; $48 for non-members)
- Health Literacy: Why is it a Challenge? (Nursing CEUs available for a fee)
- HRSA Health Literacy Online Course