Interpretation and translation services are available at the bedside and to patients’ family members.
The COVID-19 pandemic presented many challenges for the Language Services team at the Mount Sinai Health System. The team provides language translation and interpretation services to support patients with disabilities and those with limited English proficiency. Their offerings include interpretation services on the front lines and keeping family members informed. In response to COVID-19 protocols in place, the Language team developed and deployed tools and initiatives, such as video remote interpreting for meetings, clear masks, sound amplifiers, and “proactive rounding” to ask patients and families about their needs.
The session, “Better Together—Leveraging Our Values to Serve Our Most Vulnerable Patients During the Pandemic,” was hosted by the Mount Sinai Office for Diversity and Inclusion and delivered by Silvina de la Iglesia, Associate Director of Language Services at Mount Sinai. Ms. de la Iglesia highlighted Mount Sinai’s core values, which are safety, agility, creativity, empathy, teamwork, and equity, and said the pandemic had made interpreters more essential than ever. The talk can be viewed here. Click the “cc” button for closed captions.
Silvina de la Iglesia, Associate Director of Language Services at Mount Sinai.
The talk was part of a series featuring speakers from around the Mount Sinai Health System, as well as the community, to raise awareness and promote an inclusive and equitable work place and health care environment for people with disabilities. “In the pandemic, we have had the opportunity to translate our core values into action,” said Ms. de la Iglesia.
Delivering high quality interpretation services and accommodations while following COVID-19 precautions was challenging, she said. Many of the services the program provides were adapted to be offered on a remote basis, causing staff to provide interpretation and auxiliary services via Zoom, FaceTime, and other telehealth platforms. Communicating effectively is key when it comes to the patient safety and meeting the needs of patients with disabilities and other vulnerable populations. With public health measures in place to prevent the spread of COVID-19 among internal staff and external vendors, staff had to be creative in how they delivered services. This included deploying new assistive devices, as well as using clear masks for patients who are hard of hearing and require lip reading as a means of communication.
According to Ms. de la Iglesia, to elevate the patient experience means not only adapting to the pandemic with technologically advanced devices, but also remaining true to the empathetic values held by the Health System and connecting patients with their loved ones. To learn more about the services offered, please visit the Language Services webpage.
“There’s always more work to do when it comes to disabilities,” Ms. de la Iglesia said, such as, adding more services for people with limited English proficiency or health care literacy. “The spectrum is so broad that we could never cover it all, but at least with different efforts to raise awareness, engaging the community in daily operations, and listening to feedback, we do better for our patient.”
Additional disabilities-related resources are available on the Mount Sinai Office for Diversity and Inclusion site.