Picture boards help bridge language gap in health emergencies - USATODAY.com: TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — With more ill and injured people unable to speak English, hospitals, clinics and rescue squads are turning to picture boards to bridge the communication gap with easily understood images. The large, double-sided panels let patients point to icons showing their problem — such as pain, a burn, breathing trouble or a fall — as well as the part of the body that is affected. They also can point to their native language in a list so an appropriate interpreter can be located. 'They ought to be in every ambulance, in every hospital, in every clinic,' said Dr. Fred M. Jacobs, head of New Jersey's health department. 'Communication barriers lead to adverse impacts on (care) quality, misunderstandings and even medical errors.' His department is partnering with the state's hospital association to distribute thousands of the boards to all New Jersey hospitals, rescue squads and public health clinics. Use of the panels is likely to spread under a new U.S. Department of Health and Human Services program aimed at helping hospitals to determine their patients' communication needs and to find tools to meet those needs. At least nine state hospital associations have signed on: New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, Missouri, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, Utah and Washington.
