The attached self-assessment tool can assist you in identifying
language skills and resources existing in your health care
setting. This simple tool will provide a basic and subjective
idea of the bilingual capabilities of your staff.
We recommend that you distribute the tool to all your
clinical and non-clinical employees using their non-English
language skills in the workplace. The information
collected may be used as a first step to improve communication
with your diverse patient base.
You may wish to write an introductory note along the following
lines:
|
“We are committed to maintaining our readiness to serve the needs of our patients. Many of our employees could use their skills in languages other than English.
We are compiling information about resources available within our work force. Please complete and return this survey to no later than .
This survey will not affect your performance evaluation. It is just a way for us to improve our customer service, and to make you part of such efforts.
Thank you for your assistance.”
|
|
Once bilingual staff have been identified, they should be
referred to professional assessment agencies to evaluate
the level of proficiency. There are many sources that will help
you assess the bilingual capacity of staff.
Depending on their level of confirmed fluency, your practice
would be able to make use of this added value to help your
practice better communicate with your patients in the client’s
language of preference.
Click here to download the Employee Language Skills Self-Assessment Tool
|