The mammography department in Region Västernorrland uses Care to Translate to overcome language barriers, improving attendance and communication with non-Swedish speaking patients. This has led to better patient safety, fewer rescheduled appointments, and increased efficiency for staff.
Region Västernorrland is one of Sweden’s 21 self-governing regions, each corresponding roughly to a county. Geographically located in the middle of Sweden, Region Västernorrland is responsible for all health care for its residents.
There are three big hospitals in the region, of which the Sundsvall Regional Hospital is one. The hospital employs about 2400 people and offers services within a variety of healthcare areas, including mammography. This is where Sara Danielsson, radiology technologist, works at the mammography department.
Currently, 87% of women in Västernorrland attend their mammograms. However, participation is lower among women born outside the Nordics. This was something the region wanted to improve.
Sara Danielsson explains how language barriers not only restrains women from coming to get their scans, but can often also lead to reduced quality of the mammograms when they do come in:
“This can lead to patients having to reschedule their entire scans.”
Sara also noticed that patients who didn’t speak Swedish struggled to understand or answer important safety questions without interpreters. They often relied on body language, which could easily cause misunderstandings and decreased image quality.
To combat these issues the mammography department took several actions. One was carrying out a large pilot project testing Care to Translate in different healthcare departments across the region.
The pilot lasted a year, and while the mammography department was introduced to the app partway through, they quickly integrated it into their daily routines and immediately saw benefits during patient screenings.
“The app reduced the need to use body language and made it possible for the staff to ask the necessary questions directly to the patients. It saved us time and increased efficiency.” says Sara Danielsson.
The app is frequently used in the region’s mobile mammography unit (the mammography bus), which travels to rural areas to ensure all women have access to screening. In the hospital setting, the department uses the app on stationary computers, which demonstrates its flexibility and ease of integration into various work environments.
Using Care to Translate has delivered significant improvements in both patient care and workflow efficiency. The app helps staff communicate directly with patients in their native languages, reducing the need for translation aids from family members. This avoids uncertainty about what is being communicated and saves valuable time.
Sara Danielsson emphasizes that the app also benefits the healthcare professionals:
“By reducing the need for translation aid from relatives we can avoid uncertainty around what is said, and thereby save time. And by communicating verbally, the need for physically positioning and guiding the patient is reduced. This results in a much better working environment for the staff."
Care to Translate helps also improve the quality of mammograms. As Sara points out, language barriers often lead to lower-quality images, which can result in patients needing to reschedule appointments (with an interpreter). With Care to Translate, image quality can significantly improve, reducing the number of repeat appointments.
Sara adds that the app has proven highly valuable for optimizing both efficiency and the working environment. She also notes that their small team made it easy to implement the app, and the web app has been particularly convenient for integrating into existing processes.
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Want to learn more about how Care to Translate is being implemented in mammography? Read the Mälarsjukhuset or Karolinska University Hospital case study.
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