Abstract
Background/Aims Colorectal cancer screening rates for Vietnamese-speaking patients are below national benchmarks. To address this disparity, an eight-hour training program was developed for interpreters to provide counseling to patients in Vietnamese on colorectal cancer screening at the time of a primary care visit. A culturally-tailored counseling script was developed, approved by clinical care leaders, and its delivery was integrated into routine clinic flow. Following each counseling session, patients were invited to complete a brief survey about their satisfaction with the counseling session.
Methods Twenty four Vietnamese-speaking patients needing colorectal cancer screening were enrolled in this pilot study and 19 completed a 26-item phone survey for a response rate of 76%. Survey non-response was due to two refusals, two non-working numbers and one unavailable. The survey was administered by a bi-cultural bilingual interviewer. On average, the survey took 15 minutes to complete.
Results The mean age of participants was 60 years (range: 51 to 72 years). Fifty two percent were female. All but one participant had 12 or less years of education. All participants were born in Vietnam, spoke Vietnamese at home, and all but one participant had limited English proficiency. The mean years in the US was 18 years (range: 6 to 38 years). Eighteen participants were very satisfied with their counseling session and one participant was somewhat satisfied. All 19 participants felt very confident with the information provided by the interpreters. All 19 participants were told about stool cards, 13 about were told about sigmoidoscopy and 14 were told about colonoscopy. Ten participants reported that the interpreters spent 10 or less minutes providing counseling and nine reported more than 10 minutes. Fifteen participants had no additional questions about colon cancer screening after counseling.
Conclusions These results suggest that culturally-tailored counseling on colorectal cancer provided by trained interpreters is well received by patients and may be effective in increasing screening rates in limited-English speaking patient populations. Interpreters working in health care systems may be able to serve multiple purposes, including promoting cancer screening, with training. With growing numbers of limited speaking patients and limited resources, interpreters may be an underutilized resource.
