New research in the September 2023 issue of JNCCN—Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network reveals an alarming lack of access for non-English speakers who called hospitals across the United States looking for information on cancer care services.
The researchers from University of Michigan set up a series of simulated patient calls to various hospital general information lines, speaking in English, Spanish, and Mandarin. Nearly all of the English-speaking callers were provided with next steps to access cancer care—such as a telephone number for presumed clinic or transfer to the department that was presumed to provide the requested care—while just over a third of the Spanish speakers had the same experience, and even fewer for Mandarin-speaking callers.
The simulated calls were made to a random selection of 144 hospitals evenly distributed across 12 demographically diverse U.S. states, including California, Florida, New York, Texas, Arizona, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Michigan, Missouri, Oregon, and Pennsylvania. The calls were made Monday through Friday between 8:00am and 5:00pm local time, between November 8, 2021 and June 23, 2022. A total of 1,296 calls were completed; 432 in each language. Overall, 53% resulted in callers being provided with next steps to access cancer care. However, the Mandarin-speaking callers received that information only 28% of the time; Spanish-speakers were slightly higher at 38%, while English-speakers were connected to next steps 94% of the time. The researchers anticipate that patients who speak other, less commonly spoken, non-English languages may face even greater barriers to care.
To read the entire study, visit JNCCN.org. Complimentary access to “Hidden Disparities: How Language Influences Patients’ Access to Cancer Care” is available until December 10, 2023.