In today's society, America should be seen through the lens of more than one ethnicity. It is time for us, as a country, to become open minded and embrace the new cultures and languages around us. If we aren't able to move forward and face the fact that the American population is changing, then what are we, as a country, saying for ourselves? As of 2012, 17% of our population was Hispanic. 14 million Hispanics live in California, alone; with only an astounding 68% claiming that they speak English "well". So what does that say for the other 32%? How could you be expected to comfortably go about your day when waking up in the morning you know that you are not fully able to communicate with those around you. 

A detrimental issue that this language barrier is causing in today's society is that it's beginning to affect our medical field, and more importantly, the patient's personal health as well. This fact alone should stand as an advocate for the addition of translators in all medical environments. This issue is something I have dealt with on a personal, and day to day, level in the past. Throughout high school I worked at Sports Plus Physical Therapy Center as an assistant to the physical therapist. It was common for us to come across patients that spoke little, to no, English. However, it was even more common for the patient to attempt therapy with no translator at all. This was mostly due to the fact that having a translator accompany you throughout therapy is very expensive when it's out of pocket; and most insurance companies are not required to provide this. 

As arrogant as this may sound, most doctors and physical therapist will not spend their time with patients they feel they cannot communicate with. This is where I would have to step in and work with those who needed a little more translation. Due to the fact that I had taken accelerated Spanish all of high school I was usually able to gracefully work with the patients and make them feel more comfortable. However, in most medical environments this is not the case. How do you think it affects the patient's overall health when their line of communication is broken with their doctor, therapist, counselor, or even surgeon? The outcome of miscommunication in the medical field can be entirely life altering, or even worse, lethal.  

My first source is a study on this very question, "Do Professional Interpreters Improve Clinical Care for Patients with Limited English Proficiency?". The objective of these study is to determine if professional medical interpreters have a positive impact on clinical care for limited English proficiency (LEP) patients. The evidence in this article shows that medical attention seems to be less accessible to LEP patients. However, when it is accessed, these patients typically have very poor recovery and follow up rates, along with little to no satisfaction with the care provided. This study heavily hints at the fact that most LEP patient's health are at risk due to this language barrier. It also claims that communication between the patient and physicians increases patient satisfaction, health status, adherence with medication, and their follow up rate. This article is very credible due to the fact that this study was conducted through September of 1996 to 2005. In addition to the length of time, they also accessed the Cochrane Library which provided them with 3,575 references and bibliographies on Medical Interpretations with brought their total to 3,698 references. 

My next source is a study on "Patient Perspectives on the Need for and Barriers to Professional Medical Interpretation".   For this study, focus groups were formed with 22 LEP Spanish speaking adults. After conducting this experiment, it was shown true that LEP patients do face more barriers in accessing adequate interpretation when in a medical environment. It was also proven that in order to improve their health outcomes the addition of permanent language assistance is needed. The things at stake in this investigation are the health of the patients, their quality of care and satisfaction, along with the patient to physician relationship. The addition of interpretation would initially benefit all of these factors. This experiment was performed in Providence County, Rhode Island, a place where 16.9% of households speak predominantly Spanish. Flyers asking for participants were posted in churches, local businesses, and health centers. Therefore, only those interested were able to contact those performing the study. Due to this being a self nominating experiment those who were involved most likely had something at stake, or something with value to share. Which in turn, gives this study credibility. 

My last source for this topic, "Language Barriers in Health Care" by Somnath Saha, is a little different than the other two. This source puts the topic into a more personal perspective. It asks you to imagine yourself in a foreign country where you do not speak the language (i.e. China). It addresses the issues you may have if you were in a situation where you had an illness and could not communicate it to the doctor. Even worse, if you were attempting to explain an allergy you had to a certain medicine. If you couldn't speak, or read, the language how could you be confident in the care/medication you are receiving? The values in this article will benefit my argument due to the fact that they will be able to touch the audience at a personal level. However, due to this being a fictitious scenario the article itself loses credibility.  Though it may not be as credible, it still makes a strong enough point to the audience to be used in this argument. 

Initially, this research question should be seen as arguable because it's asking for an addition of translators/assistance for those whom may need it. This could be argued because it's not something which has been traditionally seen in American medical environments in the past.  It could also be counter argued through the fact that people may believe this is not our problem, and therefore, it's not up to us to help and provide the solution. These are both arguments that my research has led me to. The perspective of my last source really brought to light the issues that these people face on a day to day basis. It forces you to see their perspective. In the future, I hope to advance my question by making it more specific to those who are faced with this issue and their experiences. 
