Northern Health has implemented a new app across inpatient wards to assist staff in communicating to diverse patients on occasions when it’s challenging to access interpreting services.
Intially developed in 2015 by St Vincent’s Hospital, the Talk to Me app is a comprehensive phrase library application, offering multilingual support through text and speech interfaces to help communication between staff and patients/residents.
With over 500 phrases curated for health professionals and a patient user interface, it is available in 16 languages including Arabic, Cantonese, Croatian, Dinka, Persian, Greek, Hakka, Italian, Macedonian, Mandarin, Punjabi, Serbian, Somali, Spanish, Turkish, and Vietnamese.
The Transcultural and Language Services (TALS) Department at Northern Health provides over 60,000 interpreting occasions of service each year, with around 20 per cent of patients requiring language services available face-to-face, or via phone and video.
The Talk to Me app has been developed by health professionals in collaboration with certified interpreters and cultural diversity trainers, along with other experts in this field.
Northern Health Transcultural Language Services manager David Le said the app would help staff during non-critical moments.
“Incorporating the Talk to Me app into daily workflows empowers staff to bridge communication gaps during non-critical moments, enhancing patient care experiences,” said David Le, Manager Transcultural Language Services,” he said.
