Patients coming to breast screenings at Karolinska University Hospital have no access to interpreters. The mammography clinic solved the language problem using Care to Translate, resulting in more efficient screenings.
Carola Johansson Zanzol is a manager and operational support at the mammography clinic at Karolinska University Hospital (KS). She works broadly with the different parts of the clinic, such as the clinical examinations, the MRIs, and the mammogram screenings.
In Sweden, all women aged 40-74 years old are offered a free mammogram screening every 18-24 months to discover breast cancer. Approximately 65% of all breast cancers are discovered during these screenings.
The mammography clinic at Karolinska University Hospital calls around 60 000 women for screenings each year.
The problem was that only clinical patients have the right to an interpreter. Since the screening is considered a “preventative measure”, patients coming in for a mammogram don’t have the same access to interpreters. We still get a lot of patients coming in who don’t speak the language and need some kind of language support.
The mammography clinic at Karoliniska Sjukhuset has a diverse staff who can speak multiple languages. In situations where translation is needed, they are sometimes fortunate enough to have a staff member who can provide it. If that's not possible, they rely on body language and gestures to communicate instructions to the women.
Overall, people have a positive opinion about Care to Translate and love using it. It is also used in other areas of the clinic when interpreters for specific languages are not available. It is a cost-effective alternative to hiring interpreters and provides a range of phrases and functions for situations where interpreters are not present.
The mammography screenings are very standardized. They are more or less the same for all women that come in. The mammography clinic at KS uses Care to Translate to instruct women on what to do, how to position themselves during the screening, and more.
It makes the women happy to hear their own language and makes the process very easy for the staff.
In the beginning, the app wasn't used a lot. Like with all new things, staff needed to be reminded that the app existed, learn how to use it, and be comfortable with it. With the support of Care to Translate, Carola tried to encourage them to start using the app. As a couple of colleagues started using it more, others saw the value of it and started using it themselves.
Patients respond positively when they hear their own language. It has helped the staff a lot when they get patients who speak another language. They can instruct the patient on what to do. For example, now you need to get undressed, we will take this image, etc. It has made it much easier for everyone.
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