Computer-based Patient Provider Communication about CAM Use

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The aim of the proposed project is to develop an application for use on a touch screen computer that allows patients with limited English proficiency (LEP) to input information about their use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) in their own language so that the data can be relayed to healthcare providers in English. The primary objective of Phase II is to develop a fully-functional prototype of the envisioned system in English, Chinese, and Korean, including an extensive CAM database in these languages. Hospital outpatient clinics and community health centers with high populations of monolingual Chinese and Korean speakers will be recruited to test the prototype in order to evaluate its effectiveness for raising CAM awareness among providers, facilitating patient-provider discussion, and increasing overall patient safety and satisfaction. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: The objective of the proposed research is to develop a multilingual software application designed for use on a touchscreen computer. It will facilitate communication about complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) usage between patients with limited English proficiency (LEP) and healthcare providers. CAM can result in adverse patient outcomes (e.g., herb-drug interactions and infections) if improperly administered, thus it is essential for healthcare providers to be aware of the alternative therapies patients may be using. Despite the high prevalence of CAM use among LEP populations, discussions regarding CAM are infrequent due to linguistic and cultural barriers; these barriers can be mitigated by the proposed tool, leading to increased awareness of CAM among providers, patient safety, and overall patient satisfaction.