Federal law requires organizations that get federal funding to provide services in languages that can be understood by everyone. California has the largest population of non-English speakers. This can be a challenge for someone who is limited English proficient (LEP). Often LEP folks experience care delays, longer hospital stay, and sub-optimal quality. One third of U.S. hospitals fail to provide interpretation services and one fourth of hospitals that serve patients that need language services do not provide them. The problem is due to the accessibility and the cost of having an interpreter for everyday communication. Currently, patients are told that they “might” have someone that speaks a language which can lead to greater issues of loss of confidentiality and potential medical errors since it means a worker is taken away from their actual work position. Further, LEP and minority patients are routinely excluded from important clinical trials and research due to a language barrier. A lack of minorities in research like COVID-19 vaccine studies and cancer treatments could be improved by incorporating trained bilingual researcher assistants (BiRA). Though many bilingual students are often confident in conversational speaking, they might be unsure about using language skills in a research setting. Our project will help students to build up their existing or Legacy language skills, in addition to providing cultural and clinically competent training in research with LEP and vulnerable populations.
