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Language and Literacy

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Social Emergency Medicine

Abstract

Barriers in communication between doctors and patients arise from differences in language, culture, and health literacy. Communication barriers contribute to poor quality of care for patients with limited English proficiency, which can be mitigated with appropriate language assistance. Low health literacy is widespread and associated with difficulty taking medications and with mortality risk. Sociocultural differences between patient and provider can be exacerbated by language discordance or assumptions regarding health literacy, and can create misunderstanding and distrust. Exploring such differences with humility can promote a therapeutic patient–provider relationship. This chapter provides emergency providers with strategies to simplify and clarify medical communication to benefit patients regardless of their primary language, cultural background, or literacy level.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Greater Los Angeles VA Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Kian Preston-Suni

  2. Department of Emergency Medicine, Olive View-UCLA Medical Center, Sylmar, CA, USA

    Breena R. Taira

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  1. Kian Preston-Suni
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  2. Breena R. Taira
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Correspondence to Kian Preston-Suni .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Emergency Medicine, Highland Hospital, Alameda Health System, Oakland, CA, USA

    Harrison J. Alter

  2. Division of Emergency Medicine, Saint Louis University School of Medicine, Saint Louis, MO, USA

    Preeti Dalawari

  3. Departments of Emergency Medicine and Population Health, NYU School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA

    Kelly M. Doran

  4. Department of Emergency Medicine, University of California, Philip R. Lee Institute for Health Policy Studies, San Francisco, CA, USA

    Maria C. Raven

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Preston-Suni, K., Taira, B.R. (2021). Language and Literacy. In: Alter, H.J., Dalawari, P., Doran, K.M., Raven, M.C. (eds) Social Emergency Medicine. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-65672-0_4

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