EQUIP Study | Equitable Use of Interpreter Services and Resources for Patients and Healthcare Professionals
Overview
Here at CSPH, our language equity team, led by Dr. Gezzer Ortega MD MPH, is focused on addressing language access and barriers for patients with limited English proficiency. One of our major projects is the EQUIP study, which aims at incorporating digital interpreter services into the hands of patients and providers at Brigham and Women’s Hospital.
Over 27 million people in the U.S., 8.7% of the U.S. population, speak English “less than very well.” In Boston, this percentage is much higher, with 17.4% of residents speaking English “less than very well.”
Language barriers, where providers and patients speak different languages can lead to worse outcomes and experiences.
Based on published research, patients with limited English proficiency (LEP) may have:
- Decreased understanding of the disease and treatment options
- Decreased ability to participate in shared decision making
- Worse satisfaction with care
- Worse medication understanding
- Delayed presentation for treatment diseases
- Longer hospital stays
- Increased readmission rates after hospitalization.
The Equitable Use of Interpreter Services and Resources for Patients and Healthcare Professionals (EQUIP) Project aims to reduce language barriers by placing the potential for a quick, live video interpreter into the hands of providers and patients at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, among other sites such as Massachusetts Eye and Ear Institute. We aim to evaluate whether an immediate, interpretation mobile application, Jeenie ®, enables language-concordant communication for primary Spanish-speaking patients with limited English proficiency (LEP) along the surgical continuum of care.
CONTACT INFORMATION:
FUNDING:
NIH NIMHD K23 MD016129: Improving Outcomes for Spanish-Speaking Surgical Patients with Limited English Proficiency (2022-2027; PI: Gezzer Ortega MD MPH)
In collaboration with MGB United Against Racism grant: Improving racial/ethnic minority access to high quality head & neck cancer care at MGB (PI: Regan Bergmark)
