Does bilingual advocacy improve Bengali patients' satisfaction with cancer services?
- Resource Type
- Academic Journal
- Authors
- Thomas, Veronica; Saleem, Tariq; Richardson, Alison
- Source
- Cancer Nursing Practice. Nov 01, 2006 5(9):25-32
- Subject
- Language
- English
- ISSN
- 1475-4266
This research aimed to establish the efficacy of introducing bilingual health advocates to Bengali cancer patients who could not speak English. Two health advocates from the Bengali community received cancer-specific training and were allocated a group of cancer patients from the Bengali community in east London. Three methods were used to gauge the impact of the advocacy service: General Health Questionnaire-12; the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer QLQ-C30 (EORTC QLQ-C30); and a patient satisfaction questionnaire. Qualitative interviews were also conducted to gather patient and carers views. As a result of this study it is recommended that all hospital-based staff receive training on role and responsibilities of bilingual health advocates.