“Let’s Talk” about Language Equity: Improving Care and Communication for Patients and Families Preferring Other Languages

Monday, May 1, 2023

8:00 AM – 9:30 AM ET

Location: Convention Center: 206

CE: Live CME: 1.50

Selected By: APA
Co-sponsored By: AAP, PHM

Chair(s)

Christina Rojas, MD (she/her/hers)

Pediatric Emergency Medicine Fellow
Children’s National Hospital
Washington, District of Columbia, United States

Disclosure(s):

Christina R. Rojas, MD: No financial relationships to disclose

Session

Description: Inequities in care and communication for children and families who prefer languages other than English for medical communication are prevalent and extend across various specialties, diagnoses, and care settings. Research in this field has expanded significantly over the past several years, with an increasing number of deleterious outcomes reported, related to initial diagnoses, management of chronic diseases, and interactions with care teams, among others. Simultaneously, various novel interventions targeted towards mitigating this inequity have been developed and successfully implemented.

Drawing on both recent literature and decades worth of combined experience, this “Hot Topic Symposium” centers on the concept of “language equity,” aiming to describe inequities related to patient language preference in pediatrics, as well as strategies for improvement. Attendees will hear from several national experts in this field, with a focus on how we can better care for and communicate with patients and families preferring languages other than English. Specifically, we will (1) highlight best practices for partnering with parents in developing interventions, (2) consider strategies to improve partnership with interpreters in clinical care, (3) discuss the impact of the multilingual workforce in healthcare, and (4) illustrate the importance of including patients and families with diverse language preferences in research. Presentations will be interwoven with interactive components, time for audience questions, and collaborative discussion. Attendees, regardless of specialty, location, or years in practice, will leave with a framework for understanding and promoting language equity at their home institutions.

Learning Objectives:

Explain how patient and family language preference for medical communication can lead to inequity in care and communication
Discuss interdisciplinary and family-centered approaches to promote language equity
Develop a strategy to address inequities related to language preference at your home institution

Presentations:

8:00 AM – 8:10 AM ET

Introduction to Language Equity
Speaker: Christina R. Rojas, MD (she/her/hers) – Children’s National Hospital
8:10 AM – 8:25 AM ET

Strategies to improve interpreter use in clinical care
Speaker: K. Casey Lion, MD, MPH (she/her/hers) – University of Washington/ Seattle Children's Hospital
8:25 AM – 8:40 AM ET

Promises and pitfalls of the multilingual workforce in healthcare
Speaker: Lisa R. DeCamp, MD, MSPH (she/her/hers) – Children's Hospital Colorado
8:40 AM – 8:55 AM ET

Making the case: Arguments for inclusion of families who speak languages other than English in pediatric research
Speaker: Katherine Yun, MD MHS (she/her/hers) – Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
8:55 AM – 9:10 AM ET

Parent/patient partnership in intervention design to promote language equity
Speaker: Alisa Khan, MD, MPH – Harvard Medical School/Boston Children's Hospital
9:10 AM – 9:30 AM ET

Conclusion and Q&A
Speaker: Christina R. Rojas, MD (she/her/hers) – Children’s National Hospital