Imagine being ill and frightened and not able to speak the language of the medical personnel trying to help. The health care system can be confusing enough to those who speak the language. For those who don't, the situation can become overwhelming.
Many health care professionals are bi-lingual and health care facilities, especially hospitals, have lists of those who are also bilingual, as well as contacts for translators and interpreters.
M.H. Graham is a Spanish teacher who put her expertise to work to help health care professionals easily learn a little bit of conversational Spanish and medical terminology in order to put their Spanish speaking patients at ease.
In Ahora Hablo Medical Edition Simple Steps to Communicate with Spanish-Speaking Patients, Mrs. Graham provides a pocket sized guide to some of the most common terms and phrases health care professionals need everyday to assist their Latino patients.
The book includes a comprehensive list of signs and symptoms, body parts, and common conditions in all body systems for basic head to toe assessment and patient teaching for doctors, nurses, dentists and pharmacists. Graham also includes some common courtesy expressions and simple phrases to help health care professionals become more comfortable speaking Spanish.
She provides the reader with many present tense verbs and some simple conjugation exercises. In addition Graham has included a phonetic pronunciation key to help the reader develop an authentic accent.
Many English words can be translated into Spanish simply by changing the ending, but not all of them retain the same meaning. For instance, constipation can be changed to constipacion but it means to have a stuffy cold. Embarrass is often changed to embarazada, but it means pregnant. This book provides a nice list of these exceptions as well.
The reader won't become fluent in Spanish or learn how to conjugate verbs, but this book is a great resource for basic Spanish language communication skills in the health care setting. It should be added to the professional library of all healthcare professionals. It would be an especially useful tool for home health professionals or those who work in settings where translators and interpreters are not readily available.
Health care illiteracy is a major problem worldwide. It is not just about being able to read and write; it is about being able to effectively communicate. When patients don't understand enough to ask questions, their conditions usually worsen and the best possible treatments are ineffective. If the patient and the health care professional don't speak the same language and a translator is not available, diagnosis and treatment can be jeopardized. Tools such as Ahora Hablo provide an opportunity for better communication in the health care setting and improved patient outcomes.
Ahora Hablo Medical Edition
by M.H. Graham
ISBN: 978-09791440-1-1
Megusta Publishing
Wauwatosa, WI 53226
