International Journal of Emergency Mental Health and Human Resilience
Open Access

Abstract

The interactions in mental health involve a significant exchange of information to identify symptoms and formulate a working diagnosis (Hales, Yudofsky, & Gabbard, 2008). The inability of patients to communicate due to language limitations may lead to situations that will be detrimental, such as receiving the wrong diagnosis or treatment due to the inadequate translation from English to Spanish (Choi et al., 2012). A practice change was proposed where healthcare personnel utilized mobile technology such as the Canopy Translation App to assess the psychiatric symptoms of Spanish-speaking patients with limited English proficiency. Participants completed the System Usability Scale (SUS) to determine whether they found the Canopy translation app useful during their assessments of Spanish-speaking patients. According to the SUS scores, participants found the Canopy Translation App useful during their interactions with Spanish-speaking patients. The findings emphasize the importance of exploring new resources and technologies to ameliorate language barriers.

Biography

Oscar Villalobos, DNP, PMHNP-BC, LPC, M.Ed, B.A., B.S.N is a Family Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner. In 2016, he graduated with a Doctorate of Nursing Practice from New Mexico State University. He graduated from University of Texas, at El Paso with a Master’s degree in Community Counseling and is licensed as a Licensed Professional Counselor. He has worked with psychiatric patients in both inpatient and outpatient settings. Living and working in a border city has helped him understand the importance of language barriers and believe that this will be a major area of focus in healthcare.

E-mail: osdevili@yahoo.com