Telehealth Care for People With Serious Illnesses and Preferred Languages Other Than English

Are there facilitators and barriers to providing serious illness care via telehealth for people with preferred languages other than English?In this qualitative study of interviews with 20 Cantonese- and Spanish-speaking patients with serious illnesses or their caregivers, participants encountered linguistic challenges with digital health tools (eg, the electronic patient portal) used for previsit and between-visit communication. During telehealth visits, they valued certified interpreters but preferred language-concordant clinicians for better communication and cultural connection.These findings suggest that linguistic inequity in serious illness care must be addressed using tailored interventions to overcome barriers related to digital health tools and certified interpreter use.

Corresponding Author: Yidi Wang, MD, PhD, School of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, 521 Parnassus Ave, 5th Floor, Box 125, San Francisco, CA 94117 (yidi.wang@ucsf.edu).

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