Journal of general internal medicine
-
Little is known about the quality of the patient-physician relationship for terminally ill African Americans. ⋯ Lower reported patient-physician relationship quality for African-American patients does not explain the observed differences between African Americans and whites in ACP and preferences for LST.
-
Comparative Study
Race/ethnicity and nonadherence to prescription medications among seniors: results of a national study.
Nonadherence to prescription drugs results in poorer control of chronic health conditions. Because of significant racial/ethnic disparities in the control of many chronic diseases, differences in the rates of and reasons for medication nonadherence should be studied. ⋯ Racial/ethnic disparities in medication nonadherence exist among seniors, and are related to cost concerns, and not to differences in experiences or self-assessed need. Considering the importance of medication adherence in controlling chronic diseases, affordability of prescriptions should be explicitly addressed to reduce racial/ethnic disparities.
-
Comparative Study
The impact of language barriers on documentation of informed consent at a hospital with on-site interpreter services.
Informed consent is legally and ethically required before invasive non-emergent procedures. Language barriers make obtaining informed consent more complex. ⋯ Despite the availability of on-site professional interpreter services, hospitalized patients who do not speak English are less likely to have documentation of informed consent for common invasive procedures. Hospital quality initiatives should consider monitoring informed consent for LEP patients.
-
Randomized Controlled Trial
Is information on genetic determinants of obesity helpful or harmful for obese people?--A randomized clinical trial.
Although more and more genetic information is available, it is unclear whether this information is helpful for patients. Therefore, we assessed the positive and negative effects of informing obese people about the genetic etiology of being overweight. ⋯ Consultations in obesity can be helpful in general. These consultations should include genetic information if people have a family history of obesity.
-
Comparative Study
Assessing dual-role staff-interpreter linguistic competency in an integrated healthcare system.
Interpreter services for medical care increase physician-patient communication and safety, yet a "formal certification" process to demonstrate interpreter competence does not exist. Testing and training is left to individual health care facilities nationwide. Bilingual staff are often used to interpret, without any assessment of their skills. Assessing interpreters' linguistic competence and setting standards for testing is a priority. ⋯ We found that about 1 in 5 dual-role staff interpreters at a large health care organization had insufficient bilingual skills to serve as interpreters in a medical encounter. Health care organizations that depend on dual-role staff interpreters should consider assessing staff English and second language skills.