When you can’t understand your doctor’s accent, you may be in trouble.

As our country becomes more and more diverse, the issue of language and communication becomes an ever growing problem in healthcare. There are 329 languages being spoken in America, and with that comes many different accents. If you can’t understand your doctor, you may be in trouble. If you can’t hear the instructions for your surgery, how to take your medications or the information they are telling you about your disease, then how will you be able to get better? This is not about bias, this is about your safety and reality. And I’m not just talking about accents from other countries; it may be accents from different parts of the country. And if you add the increasing hearing loss with our aging population, it only compounds the problem.

So what can you do? If you have a choice, pick a doctor that speaks the same language that you do. The other good thing about picking a doctor who speaks your language and is from the same culture is that when it’s time to make end-of-life decisions, you will probably be in greater agreement. If you truly can’t get a doctor that you can understand, then ask for a professional medical interpreter, even if you are both speaking English. You are entitled by law to have a professional interpreter in a hospital. There is also a medical service that that is free called the A T and T interpreter phone line. You can get an interpreter on the phone and they can help you with your conversation with the doctor.

I was talking to a professional medical interpreter at Children’s Hospital and she was telling me about the different ways one gets into trouble when using the family as the interpreter. She told me that in one language, the words a doctor might say when a patient has died, “I am so sorry your sister has died” don’t translate very well. “I’m sorry” in that language means, “I’m responsible. I killed your sister.” Oops. If you had a professional translator in that situation, the interpreter could have stopped and asked, “Is that what you meant to say?” And of course when the doctor said no, she could then help put the words into terms that would be acceptable. The translator in this instance would say that what should be said is, “I’m so sad. Your sister has died.”

This is just one reason you should be using a professional translator. There are other reasons as well. Your family may not be able to translate some of the terminology because they’re medically illiterate. The language of medicine is complicated. Or they may have an agenda and only translate some of the information to you, the patient. Or they may be following their cultural rules about what can be spoken to their elder. Or there may not be a word for what the doctor is trying to say in your language. Did you know that in one language there is not a separate word for bacteria and virus? There is only one word to describe both. How is your doctor going to explain something when they don’t even have a word for it? Good luck without a professional interpreter.

If you do use an interpreter, make sure you thank the interpreter and respect that they are professionals and are there to help us. Using an interpreter may save your life.

Lastly, your local hospital may want to consider having the interpreters visit the patients throughout the day to make sure their needs are getting met and that they feel like they have a voice in their health care. Your hospital may also think about sending interpreters into the doctor’s offices to provide interpretation services in the outpatient setting. Some hospital systems in Los Angeles have already begun doing this and it is making a difference.

Have a kind and respectful day.