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What's Your Multilingual Online Strategy?

 |  By Marianne@example.com  
   March 21, 2012

Most hospitals are well equipped to serve non-English speaking patients, from employing certified translators to stocking multilingual health flyers in information racks. But few are just as able to communicate with those same patients online.

It's time to say basta, assez, and enough.

This cyber language barrier must be torn down in order to ensure all patients receive the most relevant and accurate healthcare information.

New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation (HHC) is tackling this issue by embedding a translator tool on its website. The tool was developed by the New York City Technology Department for all of the city's agencies. It uses the free Google Translate utility to provide an accurate translation of the site into 34 different languages.

"Since high quality healthcare depends on accurate communication with our patients, effective communication is an important component of HHC's commitment to patient safety," says Ana Marengo, HHC's senior vice president of corporate communications and marketing.  "The ability to translate the information on our website allows us to offer important information to patients who might otherwise not be able to get it."

Nearly 2,500 people used the translate tool on HHC's website in 2011, a 16% increase over the previous year. This illustrates how important it is to reach out to multilingual and multicultural groups online as communities continue to become more diverse.

Pure Content Translation is Only the Beginning
With so many inexpensive translation options out there, there's no excuse for your site to be English-only. By copying and pasting a little code, you can embed the basic Google Translate tool onto either your entire site or individual pages. Google spells out the whole process for you with its nifty translation wizard.

Of course, multilingual communication doesn't stop at pure content translation. There are idioms, figures of speech, and cultural differences to consider. 

HHC takes it a step further by crafting multilingual advertising campaigns to reach, educate, and raise awareness among a diverse group of New York City residents. The organization's patient education, marketing, and advertising materials are regularly translated into three to 11 languages that are most commonly spoken by its patients.

HHC's advertising budget is minimal, but it does a significant amount of pro bono promotions around preventative health messages such as heart disease, diabetes, and cancer. It also did a high-profile campaign promoting its World Trade Center Environmental Health Center, which provides medical and mental health services to the community affected by 9/11.

But for promotions like these, Marengo and her team don't merely transliterate existing English copy.

"We start by crafting the concepts in English and those files are sent to a certified translation agency," she says. "The translated documents are then sent to another certified translation agency where the translations are vetted and proofread for accuracy.  Many of our marketing materials in other languages are also reviewed by our own staff who are fluent in that language."

Communities Evolve; Keep Up
HHC continually reviews its top 11 most common patient languages and is constantly on the lookout for any demographic shifts that would require strategic communication adjustments. Regardless of the languages used, the translation challenges remain constant.

"The biggest challenge is making sure you have the right translation and expert resources to have not just linguistically accurate, but also culturally competent communications," Marengo says.

For a hospital just looking to provide multilingual communications to patients, Marengo recommends they begin by capturing data about preferred patient languages and acquiring translation services to help patients navigate their healthcare process.

"Then they should do all they can to let patients know the hospital speaks their language through a wide array of multi language materials, from basic patient rights and proper signage, to health education materials and advertising campaigns," she says.

Cultural Competency is Important
And, perhaps most importantly, always keep cultural competency in mind. Something that is relevant to English-speaking patients may not make sense to another group. It may even be disrespectful or offensive.

"It's really important to remember that not all clever ad copy in English easily translates into other languages," Marengo says. "Advertising campaigns must be considered from a language as well as cultural sensitivity perspective.

With a little creativity, thoughtfulness, and cyber elbow grease, patients of all backgrounds and language preferences should be able to seamlessly navigate your hospital, online and off.

Marianne Aiello is a contributing writer at HealthLeaders Media.

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