Patients with non-English language preference favor multilingual discharge materials

A discrete choice experiment involving 89 Spanish- and Haitian Creole-speaking hospitalized adults assessed preferences for four discharge communication features. Participants assigned the greatest importance to the language and format of written instructions, followed by how discharge teaching was delivered.

Discharge instructions were the most important attribute.
Participants favored materials in their preferred language.
Language-concordant teaching was preferred overall.
The experiment measured stated preferences, not clinical outcomes.

Researchers conducted a discrete choice experiment with 89 Spanish- and Haitian Creole-speaking adults hospitalized at a single urban safety-net hospital. Participants chose between pairs of hypothetical discharge scenarios across 20 choice sets. Scenarios varied by family involvement in teaching, verbal communication method, format and language of discharge instructions, and type of post-discharge phone contact.

The record of discharge instructions had the greatest relative importance (39.9%; 95% CI, 34.0%–44.5%), followed by the mode of verbal communication (34.7%; 95% CI, 29.0%–39.1%). Overall, participants favored written or audio-recorded instructions in their preferred language, language-concordant clinicians, and family involvement. Preferences varied across demographic and language-related subgroups.

The findings can inform the design of patient-centered discharge processes for people who prefer care in a language other than English. However, the study measured stated preferences in hypothetical scenarios, not effects on comprehension, readmissions, or other clinical outcomes. Its small sample from one hospital and two language groups also limits generalizability; the results do not establish that any specific approach improves outcomes.

In practice

For hospitalized Spanish- and Haitian Creole-speaking adults at one safety-net hospital, stated preferences favored discharge instructions in the patient’s preferred language and teaching by a language-concordant clinician. These findings may help teams prioritize communication features when designing discharge processes, but they do not show that these features improve comprehension, medication safety, readmissions, or other outcomes. The experiment included 89 participants, used hypothetical scenarios, and may not generalize to other hospitals or language groups; it does not establish a required care standard.

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Source

Journal of General Internal Medicine: A Discrete Choice Experiment to Understand Hospital Discharge Preferences of Populations with Non-English Language Preference ↗

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