Effects of Offered Hospital Language Services on Health Disparities: Opportunities for New Data Collection and Analysis

• Activity Number: 443
• Type: Contributed
• Date/Time: Tuesday, August 6, 2013 : 2:00 PM to 3:50 PM
• Sponsor: Health Policy Statistics Section
• Author(s): Mauricio Gavilanes*+ and Mary McGraw Gross and Anthony Wilcox
• Companies: AES World Languages & Cultures Institute and Statistics Without Borders and Statistics Without Borders
• Keywords: Heath care Disparities ; Hospitals ; Language Services ; Data Collection ; Survey Data ; Language Barriers

Abstract

From 2000 to 2010, Massachusetts' Hispanic population increased by 46 percent. Research has shown that Hispanics have a substantially higher uninsured rate, as compared with other ethnic groups. Among those insured, Hispanics who do not speak English at home have lower rates of healthcare utilization than non-Hispanics and Hispanics who speak English at home. These statistics indicate the need for further research to determine the effect of language on health disparities. This paper provides a comprehensive demographic overview of Boston's Hispanic population, including economic and social baseline data. The paper then proposes to update existing baseline data and to collect additional data from various healthcare organizations in the Boston area. In addition, surveys will be utilized to create a new baseline for studying access to hospital language services. This data collection and analysis will propose new identifiers to highlight any additional data that may be required in Boston. Finally, it will propose innovative practices to ensure that language services are being appropriately provided, ultimately combating health disparities.