Effect of Awareness of Language Law on Language Access in the Health Care Setting

Overview

Journal J Gen Intern Med

Publisher Springer

Specialty General Medicine

Date 2006 Jul 1

PMID 16808766

Citations 13

Authors

Vanessa Grubbs

Alice Hm Chen

Andrew B Bindman

Eric Vittinghoff

Alicia Fernandez

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Background: Federal law obligates health care providers receiving federal funding to ensure language access to limited English-proficient (LEP) individuals who cannot communicate with their provider.

Objective: To determine whether LEP individual awareness of this law improved language access through interpreter utilization.

Design, Setting, And Participants: In June 2003, a telephone survey of 1,200 Californians was conducted in 11 non-English languages.

Measurements: The survey included items on English proficiency, awareness of language law, health care utilization, and communication methods. Language access was defined as having a provider who speaks the individual's language (language-concordant) or utilizing an interpreter.

Results: There were 1,000 LEP participants, of whom 371 (37%) were aware of the language law. Four hundred and ninety-one (49%) of LEP participants had a language-concordant provider. Of the remaining 509 LEP participants without a language-concordant provider, 111 (22%) reported interpreter utilization in the health care setting. After controlling for age, gender, education, income, insurance status, years in the United States, health care utilization, and level of English proficiency, awareness of law was not associated with interpreter utilization (odds ratio [OR] 0.66; 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.38, 1.17; P=.16), but was associated with having a language-concordant provider (OR 1.64; 95% CI 1.19, 2.26; P=.003).

Conclusion: Awareness of language law is not sufficient to resolve language barriers for LEP individuals. Provider and organization level barriers to language access must be addressed.

Citing Articles

Monitoring Use of Language Interpreting Services for Patients with Limited English Proficiency: Methods to Match Patient Medical Records with Interpreter Billing Logs.

Mukherjee N, Lee R, Ngyuen N, Bickell N, Richardson L, Ngai K J Gen Intern Med. 2025; .

PMID: 39875768 DOI: 10.1007/s11606-025-09378-w.

Changes in Perceptions of Discrimination in Health Care in California, 2003 to 2017.

Schulson L, Paasche-Orlow M, Xuan Z, Fernandez A JAMA Netw Open. 2019; 2(7):e196665.

PMID: 31268540 PMC: 6613287. DOI: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2019.6665.

Predictors of language service availability in U.S. hospitals.

Schiaffino M, Al-Amin M, Schumacher J Int J Health Policy Manag. 2014; 3(5):259-68.

PMID: 25337600 PMC: 4204745. DOI: 10.15171/ijhpm.2014.95.

Transitions from hospital to community care: the role of patient-provider language concordance.

Rayan N, Admi H, Shadmi E Isr J Health Policy Res. 2014; 3:24.

PMID: 25075273 PMC: 4114088. DOI: 10.1186/2045-4015-3-24.

Arabic-speaking migrants' attitudes, opinions, preferences and past experiences concerning the use of interpreters in healthcare: a postal cross-sectional survey.

Hadziabdic E, Albin B, Hjelm K BMC Res Notes. 2014; 7:71.

PMID: 24484628 PMC: 3915075. DOI: 10.1186/1756-0500-7-71.

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