| Since the advent of "patient-centered care," patients are involved more in the decision-making of both treatment options and physician choice. Solving language barriers and communication problems becomes a significant aspect of healthcare provision. The aim of this study is to provide an overall analysis about different linguistic and ethnic minority groups and their communication problems and language barriers. The study uses secondary data from the California Health Interview Survey (CHIS) and identifies the gaps and weaknesses of language barriers and communication problems among different groups by gender, race, and regional distribution in California. Helping purchasers, insurers, regulators, and providers make informed decisions regarding the provision of linguistic access services is one of the possible outcomes of understanding this problem. Among those four sections in the project, the health insurance section and health behavior section are significantly associated with communication problems and language barriers. However, in terms of the demographic information section and health condition section the results expose more disparities. Consequently, the project found out that there is a subtle difference between the issue of communication problems and language barriers and those issues should be confronted separately. |
