Health literacy among Māori
Summary
TLDRThe speaker addresses health literacy issues within their community, emphasizing the challenges in doctor-patient communication. They recount experiences where medical explanations were too complex, leading to misunderstandings and frustration. The narrative highlights the importance of breaking down information and using translators to ensure comprehension. A specific case is discussed where a Pacific Islander patient's limited English led to confusion about her cancer diagnosis and treatment options. The story underscores the need for clear, visual communication and the right to explore all treatment possibilities, regardless of cost.
Takeaways
- 😷 Health literacy is a significant issue for the whanau, where basic medical communication can be challenging.
- 🗣️ The narrator often acts as a mediator to simplify medical jargon for patients, ensuring they understand their conditions.
- 👩⚕️ Doctors sometimes struggle to convey complex medical information in a way that is accessible to patients.
- 🏥 The narrator's role includes advocating for patients, particularly from Pacific Island groups, to ensure they receive clear information.
- 🌐 Language barriers can lead to misunderstandings in medical settings, highlighting the need for effective communication.
- 🔍 The narrator had to arrange a whanau hui (family meeting) to address misunderstandings due to limited English proficiency.
- 💬 A translator was crucial in providing clarity and ensuring the patient was fully informed about her condition and treatment options.
- 🚫 The patient felt judged and limited by the doctor's assumptions about her financial situation and cultural background.
- 💪 The whanau's support and the patient's determination to explore all treatment options were emphasized, despite the doctor's advice.
- 👀 Visual aids, such as drawings and x-rays, were essential in helping the whanau understand medical conditions and make informed decisions.
Q & A
What is the main issue the speaker identifies with their whanau?
-The main issue is health literacy, specifically the communication gap between doctors and patients, where medical terms and diagnoses are not easily understood.
How does the speaker try to bridge the communication gap?
-The speaker acts as an intermediary, asking doctors to simplify their explanations until they understand, and then relays that information to the whanau.
What is the significance of the phrase 'break it down' in the context of the script?
-The phrase 'break it down' refers to the need to simplify complex medical information into terms that are easily understood by the patient and their family.
Why does the speaker feel the need to go back to the doctor after speaking with the whanau?
-The speaker goes back to the doctor to clarify and understand the medical information better so they can accurately convey it to the whanau in a simplified form.
How does the speaker describe the initial reaction of the doctor when asked to simplify explanations?
-The doctors often look puzzled and unsure of how to make their explanations simpler, indicating a lack of training in communicating complex medical information effectively to laypeople.
What role does the speaker play in working with the Pacific Island groups?
-The speaker acts as a liaison, helping to interpret medical information for Pacific Islander patients and advocating for their needs.
Can you provide an example of a situation where a translator was crucial in the script?
-Yes, a Pacific Islander patient misunderstood her medical status as 'all clear' due to limited English proficiency. A translator was brought in to clarify that she needed further treatment, leading to a better understanding and decision-making.
What was the patient's initial reaction to the consultant's advice about treatment options?
-The patient felt confused and angry because the consultant suggested she was 'all clear' previously but then presented different, potentially expensive treatment options, which she could not afford.
How does the speaker feel about the consultant's suggestion that the patient should go home and enjoy her family instead of pursuing expensive treatment?
-The speaker is critical of the consultant's suggestion, arguing that the patient should be given all treatment options and not be dismissed based on cost or cultural assumptions.
What is the significance of the term 'whanau' in the script?
-The term 'whanau' refers to the extended family in Maori culture and is used to emphasize the importance of family support and collective decision-making in health matters.
How does the speaker describe the Maori and Samoan whanau's approach to understanding medical information?
-The speaker describes them as very visual, preferring to see diagrams, pictures, or x-rays to better understand their medical conditions rather than just hearing verbal explanations.
Outlines
🩺 Health Literacy Challenges and Doctor-Patient Communication
The speaker discusses the significant issue of health literacy within their community, highlighting the communication gap between medical professionals and patients. They describe their role in simplifying complex medical information for patients and their families, ensuring they understand their conditions and treatment options. The speaker also emphasizes the importance of breaking down medical jargon into layman's terms and the need for doctors to communicate effectively with patients. They recount a specific instance where they had to mediate between a doctor and a patient's family to clarify a diagnosis, illustrating the challenges faced by non-English speaking patients and the role of cultural liaison in bridging this gap.
🌐 Language Barriers and the Need for Translators in Healthcare
In this paragraph, the speaker recounts an incident where a patient misunderstood her medical status due to limited English proficiency, leading to confusion and anger. The speaker had to arrange a family meeting to address the communication breakdown and realized the necessity of a translator. The introduction of a translator significantly improved the patient's understanding of her condition and treatment options. The speaker also criticizes the consultant's assumption about the patient's financial situation and their ability to afford treatment, advocating for a more inclusive and empathetic approach. The narrative underscores the importance of clear communication and the role of translators in healthcare, especially for patients from non-English speaking backgrounds.
🖼️ The Power of Visual Aids in Enhancing Communication with Patients
The speaker highlights the importance of visual aids in healthcare communication, particularly for Maori and Samoan communities who are very visual. They share examples where doctors used drawings and visual representations to explain complex medical conditions, which helped patients and their families better understand their health issues. The speaker emphasizes that showing visual aids can be more effective than verbal explanations alone. They also mention the emotional impact of seeing medical images, such as X-rays, which can provide hope and clarity to patients and their families. The speaker encourages healthcare providers to utilize simple visual tools like drawings and PowerPoint presentations to improve communication with patients from diverse cultural backgrounds.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Whanau
💡Health literacy
💡Communication
💡Interpreter
💡Pacific Islander
💡Cultural sensitivity
💡Visual learning
💡Miscommunication
💡Advocacy
💡Treatment options
Highlights
Health literacy is a significant issue for the whanau, particularly in doctor-patient communication.
The need for doctors to simplify medical explanations for patients is emphasized.
The role of a mediator in breaking down complex medical information is discussed.
The importance of ensuring patients understand their medical conditions before making decisions is highlighted.
A personal account of navigating medical explanations for a whanau is shared.
The challenge of health professionals understanding the cultural context of patients is noted.
An incident where a patient misunderstood 'all clear' to mean cancer-free is described.
The role of a translator in clarifying medical information for a patient with limited English is explained.
The patient's perception of being 'abused' by consultants due to miscommunication is mentioned.
The impact of a doctor's narrow-mindedness on patient treatment options is critiqued.
The importance of visual aids in communicating medical information to Maori and Pacific Islander patients is discussed.
A specific example of using a drawing to explain a heart condition to a patient is provided.
The significance of showing medical images, like X-rays, to patients for better understanding is highlighted.
The power of visual information in giving patients hope and motivating them to seek treatment is discussed.
The preference of Maori and Pacific Islander patients for visual and tactile learning methods is noted.
A call for health professionals to use simple visual aids, like PowerPoints, when explaining medical concepts is made.
Transcripts
there's
lots of issues that our whanau come up
against
but um one that probably stands out for
me
is the health literacy so
i mean some of the basic things like
communication between the doctor and the
patient
um
i don't how do i how can i describe it
like i always
see um you know like i'm always talking
with a doctor or
with a nurse and saying um
can you break the can you break the
cordal down can you break what you've
just said to the patient can you break
it down some more
and they'll look at me like um
i know what you're saying but i don't
know how to make it any simpler and so
what what we normally do is or what i
normally do is
i'll go to the doctor can you tell me
what's wrong with the patient
and so he or she the doctor will say
well he's got a this this and this
and i go yep and what does that mean
and he looks at me and he'll go that
means he's got this this and this
and i'll go yeah
so does it mean this and the doctor will
go no
okay okay well i still don't get it so
what i'm trying to explain is
what i say to the doctor is i'm not dumb
and i don't get what you've just said to
that family
so how do you expect them to you know
how do you expect them to understand
what you've just told them and so
um we break it right down so he'll break
it right down until i say yeah i got it
so if i went to the whanau and said
that would be correct he'd go yes so i
normally go back to the whanau and go
this is what the doctor meant da da da
da da da and so
um i don't do that unless the whanau
asked me
so what normally happens is i'll go to
the whanau and they'll say
what did the doctor say to you what did
you get from his corridor
nine times out of ten they'll go i don't
know
i don't know he he said it's got
something to do with my my leg or my arm
or
you know my back and i'll go oh do you
want to know what's wrong with you
yeah do you want me to go find out
yes please and so that's that's where it
starts from so i'll go
back to the doctor to the nurse and say
can you explain to me
what went on with what went on with you
know horny or what went on with
deepeker or whatever yeah and so that's
part of the health literacy is a big one
so also in my role i i work with um
the pacific island groups and i'll work
with anybody if they request
that i help them out so one day i was
on the ward and i had this uh
pi pacific islander come up and ask me
if i'd work with her whanau and i said
yeah okay
what do we need to do she goes well
we're gonna go see the consultant and
he's gonna
um tell us what's going on i said oh
yeah well you fill me in a bit and so
she says
well she's all clear and i says oh what
do you mean
well she's come back from parmesan and
she's told the whanau that
we're all she's all clear so she's just
got to go see the doctor
today and he's just going to i don't
know fill her out i'll say oh yeah
sweet so went across and we saw the um
the consultant
and i was sitting in the in the so there
was about
six seven of us and myself included
whanau you know her brother and his wife
and
a sister and what have you in the
patient and she had her child with her
was out playing out in the waiting room
so we go into the room and it's a small
room
so you know even that is it's like
you know a whanau are coming you know
whanau is coming
why don't you have enough seats for
everybody but
not even so we're in this little
surgeon's room and
he starts talking and then um
all of a sudden the patient just turned
off him she was like
wrong she just wouldn't you know say say
you're the doctor you're on the patient
you're talking with me and and she's
just
she just went just turned off him and um
later on when we got out of the out of
the um
the meeting i said what went on in there
and um she said he told me i was all
clear
before this was before this was when she
was down in palmerston the doctor said
to
it's all clear there's nothing no more i
can do for you that's that's it there's
no more i can do for you
well the patient took that as
i'm all clear i'm fixed i haven't got
cancer so she was
all excited come back here to see this
consultant
who told us something else and so she
got really confused and she got quite
angry
and so from there i had to
arrange whanau hui and figure out what
is the breakdown
how much english does she understand and
it was very limited her
english and um but she would talk to me
and i could talk to the whanau and she
would talk to me and so
from the i i knew we had to get a
translator and for her to be
fully informed of what was going on with
her she needed a translator so
i um requested a translator for this
patient
and the translator went in
it was the best move they could ever do
she was so clear you know she was
informed fully informed
so what had happened was
from her words these are her words i
don't want to see that a
consultant again he abused me this is
these are her words not mine
he abused me they abused me that's what
she called the two consultants abused me
and said i was like
whoa that's quite harsh words to use
but um i think because of her limited
english
that's the only word she could think of
to to label these
consultants so we got a translator run
now this woman is thinking of um doing
chemo when she
she said no to the consultants no i
don't want clemo
and the consul consultant says well you
know it's a bit expensive
you've got a choice of this treatment
and that treatment and that treatment's
really expensive so
um you know it's probably time you just
go home and enjoy your family
and you know you do this and you do that
and
just enjoy life and enjoy your family
and oh you know i was thinking
who are you to tell her because it costs
this much
you take this you take this option and i
sort of
i do say that you know i sort of said
that to um
his nurse
yeah so i can get into some challenging
situations myself you know whereby it's
like
uh-uh you why are you judging this
family
because you know because they're they're
pacific island you naturally assume that
they've got no money
he didn't look at because they talked
about their belief they were very
you know right into the church they're
very um
their god is powerful you know how they
believe in god
and they they wanted to look at all
these other options
you know they they didn't need this
doctor saying
well you can't afford that one so we
won't look there or he didn't even give
them
these this service that you can look at
because it was
in his mind too far you know too far
fetched for the whanau to
to be even looking at paying that much
money for um
the service well anyway to cut a long
story short when the translator come in
she told the whanau take the option of
treatment you know she advised
treatment and it's like
what you got a doctor saying blah blah
blah and you've got this
translator translator believing
you know you have every right you know
it's like she's young this woman's only
40
42 wouldn't you want to fight she's got
to she's got a child
you know she's got a husband who wants
to die
who wants to go home and and give up you
know you're going to go for every option
she's got a big whanau who can support
her financially
it's just it's just sad that sometimes
we
um uh sometimes
people are just narrow-minded you know
and just
yeah i don't know how to put it any
other way i just see them as
you may be a doctor
and yes you have your rights as a doctor
but we we we
are a whanau who can make decisions who
can
come together as a group as a as a
whanau and offer each other and support
each other to get through these
these hard times you know i mean it
wouldn't be
easy for me to say yep okay i accept
that
i'm gonna no way i'm gonna i'll fight to
the bitter end you know if it was
me in in that position i'd go to the
next person and go to the next person
and go to the next person
help me help me help me i don't want to
hear that
i don't want to hear go home creator and
die i want to hear let's try this
let's try that because i bet you if it
was his his wife or his daughter
and i actually challenged the the
newsletter if it was your wife or your
daughter sitting in that seat
would you let her just walk away and say
okay
he told me go home and die i doubt it
i'd be fighting for it
another thing that that helps working
with whanau is
maori are very visual so don't just go
da
da da da da show me a picture
you know there's been times when i've
been into a
a consultancy corridor you know when the
consultant is talking with the patient
and the consultant is going
this and this and this and this and this
and i'm trying to keep up with the
consultant
and then i'll go can you draw us a
picture so we had a woman come into
maternity and she had a
her heart is stuffed but she was
pregnant
and so they were they were concerned
that her heart might not hold out when
she had this baby
so it was a lot of talking so in the end
i said can you draw a pitch and she goes
i'm not a very good drawer says
doesn't matter i'll draw your heart so i
just drew a circle you know so
she drew the circle of she drew a heart
and then i says now just show her what's
happened
you know because this girl thought she
had this and this
but actually when the doctor drew it and
you know and we went through it with her
so what part of the heart is not working
well she says well actually the heart is
bigger i says well there you go you know
she said enlarged heart i knew what a
large heart
was but the patient didn't so you know
just all that sort of stuff we're very
visual and so this the samoan whanau
they asked if they could see the x-rays
from when it was first diagnosed to the
last x-rays
and in in between so this was from the
whanau the whanau said to me
in between they thought there was this
big mess of cancer on her lungs
and then when they saw the x-rays last
week
it was like a dot and a dot and a dot
and that gave them hope that was like
whoa you know it was that was that was
just
awesome for them to see so visually we
always go
it's like show me show me show me and i
can do it if you show me i can do it
don't tell me show me and i get that
doctors and nurses are real busy but
that does help i'm
when i talk to you know other groups
like the psychiatrist or the
psychologist
that i'm working with i says when you
when you're working with maori
powerpoints make it simple as powerpoint
show us what's going on show us what
what the alcohol does to the um
to the baby you know just show me a
picture
and a picture says a million says a
million words i say
very visual marty and what's that word
textile or whatever
touchy feely yeah
we are pity
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