Overcoming the Challenges of Multi-Lingual Culture in Florida
In multi-lingual Florida, health literacy is a pressing issue. Among those leading the effort to challenge the problem head on in Florida is the Palm Beach County Medical Society (PBCMS) – which is playing an important role in promoting the AMA Foundation’s Information RX program and its health literacy campaign to Palm Beach County physicians and patients.
PBCMS Executive Director Tenna Wiles says with so many languages being spoken in Southern Florida it’s very easy for communication problems to develop between patient and physician. This leads to increased possibility for medical errors. “We’ve been involved in health literacy for a long time, because we believe it is a vital component in improving patient safety,” she says.
The society’s approach has been to do all it can to improve the one-on-one patient-physician information exchange. It has hosted a patient safety summit featuring CME programs for the past two years, working closely with the Palm Beach County Literacy Coalition. PBCMS is also working as an active participant in the national Ask Me 3 campaign organized by the Partnership for Clear Health Communication.
As a part of its overall campaign to address the challenges of a multi-lingual health environment, PBCMS is a partner in the Community Health Alliance, a local collaborative of hospitals, clinics and other health organizations that seeks to improve access to care by overcoming language barriers. “The program is particularly aimed at low income and marginalized individuals,” Wiles says.
PBCMS is also developing a unique health literacy outreach program aimed at health office managers, working through the 13 local hospitals in the Palm Beach area, which will be launched this fall.
The effort, tentatively titled the Practice Management Institute, is part of PBCMS’ long-term plan to address health literacy on an ongoing basis, according to Wiles.
“This can’t be a once-a-year thing,” Wiles says. “We have to keep finding ways to reward behaviors that result in better communication.”
