i've seen it before (working in the ER i'm particularly prone to this type of situation) and i'm sometimes amazed by the fluency and maturity of those kids who are kind of "parenting their parent" and guiding them through complex conversations that they themselves probably don't always understand... i remember one time the little boy must've been no more than 7 or 8 years old and had to explain to his mum how she was supposed to do *his* bandages... i felt bad for him, and for his mum who might've felt powerless in this scenario.
Honestly, this does sometimes help. Someone who is less familiar with English might not be able to pick up what you're saying when you speak normally. A slow, loud voice can help. Sometimes. Usually they just don't understand you.
This is especially annoying since I used to be an ASL interpreter. So many people thought that if they yelled slowly at my client, they’d somehow understand them better. When really all it does is give me a headache, make the appointment take longer, and risk a HIPAA violation since everyone in the waiting room can hear the doc shouting my client’s business.
@@meri_teri_82 I'm aware of that. I was talking about non-native English speakers who still aren't used to the language - speaking slowly and loudly can help there.
Thanks for highlighting the importance of language access in Medical Health, history intake is a doctor’s main diagnostic tool and it only makes sense to ensure both doctor and patient understand each other. My boss says that if a doctor cannot communicate with his patient than he is not a doctor, he is a veterinarian. Also fun fact: interpreter and translator is not the same thing, interpreter convert verbal/spoken language while translator converts written language..
When I was in EMS, the most common language spoken in my area besides English was Spanish. I spoke fluent German, but not Spanish. After several very frustrating encounters using family and friends as translators, and often being able to clearly see that while the patient was saying lots of information but the translator "edited" it, I decided to learn basic Spanish, with an emphasis on medical care. I could usually get through a basic encounter fairly well. I also discovered that in our Russian immigrant communities many of them spoke Yiddish, which has just enough overlap with German that we could muddle through. Any time we had a non-English speaking pt I'd include that info in my report to our MedCom so they could advise the receiving ED and get started on getting a translation service going. Once, a BLS provider told me they couldn't get any information from the pt because he didn't speak English. I asked which language he spoke, offering that I spoke both German and Spanish. He replied "He speaks Indian" 🙄 I asked him "Which of the 22 recognized languages in the Indian constitution are you referring to? Hindi, Urdu, Gujarati, Bengali, Tamil, ..." All I got back was a blank stare...
One time patient told me their first language, and I legit had to ask them to spell it for me. I've never felt like such an idiot, I'd never heard of it. Thankfully they were also fluent in arabic, and I was able to book an interpreter for that no problem.
I completely understand. I'm in EMS now, and a large percentage of my patients are Spanish-speakers, with some of the older ones being non-English-speakers. I'm really glad to have studied Spanish, and taken that extra "Medical Spanish" course in college.
India is the worst when it comes to languages. The country has a dozen different cultures and languages. Extremely diverse country which a lot of people here simply do not understand.
@@RohanKayani Wow. That's worse than the US! Here, it's primarily English or Spanish, with a scattering of... well, pretty much every other culture/language in the world, but in small pockets. And SOMEONE in those pockets, usually the youngsters, speaks English well enough to translate between their elders and the majority of the populace.
This happened at the school I worked for all the time. We sympathized with these kids, and we were grateful for them. We would have had a terrible time without them, because interpreters were not easily available. Great vid, Doc! Kudos!
This actually hits hard for me because I had to translate for my parents when I was little too and it stressed me out. My parents had to schedule appointments around when they would be able to get off work AND when I would be out of school because there was hardly ever spanish translators back then and they needed me. Its also part of the reason why I hated the fact that my school didnt teach other languages until i was in high school and this results in so many english monolinguals today. Not that I want to force anyone to learn a new language(because I had to do that with english to be able to succeed in school) but that it would be nice if we normalized learning more languages at a younger age here in the U.S...Language barriers hurt.
I was wondering after the dad answered the question about hitting his head the first time, when there weren’t subtitles. I thought I was crazy for hearing “me gusta” at the beginning of his answer 😄
I live in California and Spanish is a necessity to provide best care to Hispanic population. I am learning Spanish and my patients support me and correct my mistakes. I also try to use language interpreters in order to understand their issues.
I used to work for a telecommunications company. It happened all the time where a 9 year old child was interpreting for their parents, and the parents were making decisions worth hundreds and hundreds of dollars concerning Internet and technology equipment. But from the parent's point of view, talking through their child is the only way they can get the information they need and the problem solved.
Oh yeah when I was working in internet tech support, I was once put on the line and did a full set-up with a 10 year old Korean kid bc his dad's English wasn't good enough to understand the software terms I was using. Kid was smart too, and knew as much if not more than I did in places. Smoothest install I ever did.
@@alitaniak7404 Nothing to do with language barriers (unless you count tech lingo as a language) but I have found myself as the techie person I end up talking to tech support when something goes wrong. When I was younger I once had a tech support agent from the satellite TV company laugh and tell me that he likes it when there are kids to talk to because most of the time they are more knowledge and able to follow instructions than their parents. I suppose some of it is we grew up with it whereas they didn't.
Deja Vu Towards the end of my late mother's life, she had dementia. She thought she was an eight year old for a bit. One day, we took her to her Doctors appointment, and the translator used the word "hospice" ... Even though it has been changed, back in her days, "a hospice" was an orphanage. She totally freaked out when she said the "bad word." My sister and I ask them to please not say that word before hand. But, she forgot we told her not to. So we had very sad elderly woman who thought she was 8 and we wanted to abandon her the rest of the day. Thank goodness the appointment wasn't that long (thanks to her behavior -she was throwing a fit-) We had to "buy her trust" with a strawberry shake. SNAPS! I wish life was always that easy... Lol
Kids must be mature beyond their years to successfully translate for their parents in a multitude of settings, none more stressful than in a medical setting. What support can the hospital provide for kids in this situation? Thanks for showing this situation.
Unfortunately we are so understaffed and they just keep firing more and more people for things not related to their ability to do their job. Honestly, this is often all thats available. Hospitals can't even support the patients with so little staff there is nothing they can do for the kids in these cases. We can call social services, but thats going to make everything worse for the family if not cause legal problems in a lot of cases. Its not perfect, but its what we have. Its only getting worse the more people they fire.
I used to translate for my grandparents when I was a little girl and translating never induced stress, even in a medical setting. If I didn't know a specific medical term, I would admit that I didn't know how to say it and the doctors would break it down even further. We translated all the time so it's something that we were used to doing and I bet that these kids are used to doing as well. These kids are speaking both languages everyday... Spanish at home and English at school. It's not new.
At some agencies the use of small children as interpreters is unethical and not permitted as it places undue emotional stress on them to be in on adult conversations about the health and safety of their parent. Its a scary thing for them. Also, children cannot be expected to understand the meaning and nuances of the questions being asked and the answers provided to translate correctly. Interpreters have training and understanding in medical terms & concepts to be able to give a culturally appropriate assist in explaining things. Small children should not be used except in life threatening emergencies.
My siblings and I were often used to act as interpreters and translators for my parents. As the eldest, I started when I was 6. No, young children cannot be expected to fully understand some situations or even understand what some words mean, let alone translate them. Pretty unfair to expect a child to be able to translate and explain insurance to their parents if they haven't even hit puberty yet lol. It could get annoying, but I don't think any of us were particularly stressed out about it.
That would be nice in an ideal world, but the reality is that theres rarely an interpreter available on the spot and if the parents speak a less common language, the probabilities drop to near 0. Sometimes you just have to make do with what you have, especially with the long wait times in hospitals and other healthcare facilities. Not to sound harsh, but "undue emotional stress" is pretty much a given for any child of first generation immigrants who aren't fluent in the spoken language of their new country. Being able to help their parents through the healthcare system is going to help their family get back to their feet sooner, which a good thing in my opinion. These days there are translation apps for the specific medical terms, much better than 10 yrs ago 😁 signed, a lifetime interpreter for my parents
I'm sad crying right now because this is too real for me. "We can't seem to hire interpreters right now" well it would appear we might need to spend a little more money on a JOINT COMMISSION REQUIREMENT that also happens to be BASIC HUMAN DECENCY.
@HeidiMN back in the 80s I was one of two bilingual nurses. We only dealt with our own patients. Patients on other floors who didn't have someone over 16 to translate for them often got to use the services of some of the housekeepers. The majority of the housekeeping staff were Latinos/Latinas. Can you imagine telling a complete stranger all your business?
Hospitals especially have no excuse for interpretors/translators. There are phone based services they can subscribe to which provide objective, competent translation.
@@laurarabon1844 not at all. They often received a luke-warm thank you and then slipped back into invisibility. But there were many who, although they knew what a gallbladder was in Spanish, they didn't recognize the English word for it. Just my opinion but I feel uncertified translators could be dangerous. For example, even though these kids did a great job, they left out the headaches that dad mentioned when he was talking about the numbness he was feeling. Headaches can be a very important symptom.
I have an idea for your next scenario: Video or telephone remote interpreter! I am a VRI and would LOVE to see one on your next video! Kudos to those kids, their interpretation was very accurate, no additions or omissions!
The kids did great for being so young, but they omitted the headaches dad mentioned when he spoke of the numbness. Otherwise, for being so young, they were amazing!
Omg video interpreting for sign language is the only option at my hospital atm due to covid (the in person interpreters have stopped attending) and it is so pointless! How am I meant to take a 90yo confused woman down for a scan if the interpretor can't leave the tiny computer screen in the ward??? Makes me so annoyed, it's such poor practice.
@@catlinboy That's definitely frustrating for everyone. We're offered an interpreter on a tablet. Maybe you could suggest something similar for your facility?
Ya. When you use family to interpret, sometimes they just don't want mom to know she has cancer and will translate all around the real issue (not saying from experience or anything😉
Yep. Also, children (whether minors or adults) don’t always speak both languages well enough to be able to interpret complicated topics like medical symptoms, illnesses, or medicine instructions. Lots of times the children speak fluent English but make do just speaking the level of a High School 2 class for the language their parents speak. And in ASL it’s the norm (unfortunately) for Deaf children that are fluent in ASL to have parents that know either no ASL or very minimal ASL. So doctors offices that don’t know this might just assume the parents can interpret and instead the parents talk to the doc without interpreting anything (because they can’t) and the Deaf patient is left knowing nothing about their own health or treatment. It happens depressingly often.
....pfft. The question to "Has he hit his head?" The Dad's response: I like candy and fried chicken wings. The kid's interpretation of said response: He likes candy and fairies?? "Adas", which means fairy tales sounds similar to "alas", wings, in spanish. Kids would get confused between the two and instead of asking what that word means, they just go for the interpretation of it that they think makes sense. Sigh. When I was around the age of these kids, I had to be the interpretor and translator for my parents and I had to do an excellent job at it, least I get shunned by mother. Of course, I thought I was being 'useful' and, therefore, was being an integral part of the family. I didn't know, at the time, that kind of treatment was damaging.
I grew up doing that for both of my parents. As a nurse, we can't use family members. The places I have worked at have professional translation call lines that are 24hrs... With exception of some odd and ends languages, we usually get the info we need. It's a bit of a hassle sometimes because you need to document all kinds of info regarding the translation call when you have 12 other things to do. But I do feel better getting information directly from patients rather than another family member. The adults in the family often have their own interpretation of what's wrong with the patient.
PSA: Every patient is legally entitled to an interpreter, which should be utilized for nearly all conversations. Apart for emergencies, it is strongly recommended that friends and family do NOT interpret, because 1. They do not have training in medical language 2. They may have ulterior motives which alter their translation (even positive ones) f a patient insists on a friend or family interpreting, a waiver can be signed. Medical practitioners are advised AGAINST providing interpretive services even if they are a native speaker unless they have passed an interpreter examination or received their medical training in that language. This is because they may not cover the same dialect, or may not have training in medical terminology in said language. Studies have shown that native speakers who are medical personnell use more incorrect or english medical words in their interpretation than professional interpretors.
I've been in a room next door and heard nurses incorrectly interpret and tell patients something completely different. I'm not going to get involved but I know a lot of the time you actually can't trust that the employee they use to interpret is even remotely qualified. I've also reviewed medical documents that were so poor translated that they said different thing in each language. Advised my family member to not sign those documents.
This situation happens way too often. Often times my hospital system does have the language interpreters available by phone, but it can be a 2-3 hour wait to get one on the line, especially on the weekends or in the evening. We get horrible reception in my clinic so both me and the patients have to yell into the phone and repeat ourselves ALL THE TIME. The poor interpreters have to raise their voices and repeat themselves as well. Sometimes they hang up on us in the middle of a visit. It is so frustrating and it takes FOREVER. I definitely second ant other commenters who say they want to see you portray phone or video interpreters next!
This hits home. I am lucky i get translators most of the time, but i have been in this situation many times. Now, i use the google translator as a back up.
Hey doc, if you do a 3rd one, I have an idea for you. There is this one doctor who when I translate for him he tries SO hard to do the translating himself despite it being my job. He will be like OPERACIÓN MUY IMPORTANTE. MUCHO DOLOR. and be doing history intake with incredibly broken Spanglish. It’s so awkward because he insists he can do it himself but he really can’t. Part 3: When the doctor thinks he knows how to translate
I am not Hispanic by any means, white as white gets but my last name, my husband's last name is definitely a Hispanic name. I've been turned down by Drs in my area in the Midwest because, Idk how this is legal, of my last name because they literally assume I'm Hispanic and will need an interpreter and they don't want to have patients like that. I speak no Spanish whatsoever and yet I'm judged by what feels like racist Drs. This is a really good one, Doc.
That's awful.. I'm blonde, blue eyes, and my married name was Ballejo. I never had any problems. I've never lived in the Midwest tho. I'm confused why they would think you need an interpreter, when they hear you speaking English to make the appointment.
@@rf5963 they wouldn't. This person is making a lot of assumptions.. There are many possible reasons they have been turned away and they are just assuming it was their name.
@@kathleencardincpm4435 there are several valid reasons. Someone could be rude/mean to staff, the practice could be full, they could be repeatedly late on payments, etc. Just like in any other profession, you can't be forced to perform a service for anyone else.
Please give the kids a huge hug for me, they did great. Giggle when you asked the younger one if he spoke Spanish...of course,bur English is what you need. I go slow, write numbers ,talk quietly and clearly....many people understand more than they speak. Still angry so few providers know that most of the world is multi lingual, French is spoken in older Vietnamese,as well as DRC and most Roma. Fair number of Philippino speak Mandarin or Cantonese. Telephone translation is great but you have to understand what translator to ask for
Idea for video. Kids hearing screening. Both the big group volunteers screening in kindergarten and the annual screening in peds office. The screeners assume the kid isn’t paying attention… “Come on Joey, focus, when you here the beep raise your hand. Joey, we can’t get thru this if you don’t pay attention and raise your hand.” My 5 yo was no fool, he wanted to be done and make everyone happy. He started raising his hand. True long story.
I'm surprised at how well both children did. Only one detail, for the boy at the beginning, didn't ask the father what the doctor asked. He just answered the question. I was an interpreter for 25 years.
I've been in this situation countless times and we do this all the time. We know why our parents go to the doctor based on previous conversations so no point in asking a question that we know the answer to. I started translating in medical scenarios about 11 years ago when my little brother started having "grand-mal" seizures. Never knew this shouldn't happen until I started nursing school lol
Wow, this was my life growing up with my parents. I remember the first time I did it I was 5. I could barely speak proper English because I had just started taking ESL classes at school. Anyway, I managed to tell the dentist in my broken English that my mother had a bad toothache. Oh the memories.
Our hospital lost a lot of our non medical support staff with the vaccine mandates and that took out a lot of the interpreters. They surveyed remaining staff to see what second languages we know. I'm already working an unsafe ratio with mandatory overtime and last week I wet myself because someone could die if I took a bathroom break. We don't have time to be running around translating. Family is absolutely being used more often especially now. Its terrible for privacy, but we just don't have the resources and they are firing even more people. Honestly, if they tried to make me add translation to my duties I'll quit. At this point I'm close to walking out. Please chill out on who's left and don't judge doctors using Family for translation too hard. It's all we have.
These kids did a really good job... but they didn't mention the headaches dad reported when he mentioned numbness. Kids are okay for interpreting when you're gathering info, not so much when you're delivering results. Can be hard on them emotionally if it's bad news. And what if they don't know what something means, or is, in English, much less in another language?
I remember basically doing this for all my family. Me and my cousins would struggle to do so but would get the point across. As I got older, the doctors in the hospital would ask me to translate and would later give me cookies or ice cream. I didn’t know it was illegal.
Oh Lord I can only imagine. It's bad enough when everyone speaks the same language. A co-worker had to leave work suddenly to take their brother to the ER for an injury. When they got back we asked "How is your brother?" They said: "The doctor says he has a ball in his head but he will be alright." ?????? After much questioning we determined the brother had a concussion. I still puzzle over what the doctor said that translated to "he has a ball in his head".
I remember one time as a kid I was trying to translate for my aunt over the phone but the guy refused to speak to me because I was just a kid. I guess he figured it'd be easier for him to rip off someone who couldn't really understand what he was saying >.>
Not standard stroke symptoms, but I'd be very concerned at this moment, especially as the father seems to be losing coherence/consciousness. And the son senses it!! Wow, amazing scenario!
One night I was assigned to a patient who only spoke RUSSIAN!!! She talked to me like I was her long lost bestest friend in the world. I only remember one word: squaerka. After she got done talking she opened her arms big, smiled and hugged me. Nicest lady ever, but I never knew one thing she said. We had no one in the hospital to interpret on night shift. I think she had family who knew English but they couldn't stay with her. That should have never happened.
I can recall a rather elegant older Italian lady who had presented with abd. pain. The intern showed me a screening flat plate with evidence of a parasitic infection involving her liver. I went with him to the bedside and she could see that we were a little befuddled as to how to explain this and decided to wait for a family member to return. She tapped me on the arm, pointed to her liver and said, "Echinococcus..Roma". Her parasitic infection had already been diagnosed in Rome. We were deflated.
I worked in a hospital where we had patients speak in 4 different languages. Different cultures. I only knew one so I would pray everyday I wouldn't get a patient I couldn't understand and had to present during rounds lol. Also I made good friends with the nurses who spoke the other languages. It was stressful but at least I'm good in non-verbal communication 😂
There is a bat rescuer on TH-cam who describes the bats with head injuries as being “off with the fairies.” So apparently this Dad was giving a correct answer. lol
I have to translate for my mom all the time lol. Sometimes from another state 1000 miles away. Hey at least Spanish is a fairly common language in the US. My mom was never able to use the interpreter system, I don't even know they exist at any of her clinics.
It's so stressful for the kids. And sick kids in the hospital having to translate for their parents when they feel so poorly themselves is also an issue. It does tend to force kids to grow up quicker and places an unfair burden on them.
My husband just hands them a tablet and runs it through Google translate (he is not in a critical field). It's a lot better than it was and it gets him to a good starting point if no one's around.
My siblings and I had to translate for my parents as kids. We still do, but only one of us still lives at home, so now it all falls on him. As the eldest, I started when I was around 6 years old. My parents tried to have a friend help, but she had her own life and grandkids to raise, so when she was unavailable, we had to step up. It was annoying, especially when my parents expected 10 year old to fully translate and explain insurance letters or medical terminology lol, but not what I would call stressful.
It's sad, my parents went through this and I had to interpret when I was a child. That's why I'm a nurse today. I can be a patient advocate for the Latino community 💪
I love all your sketches! I do want to throw this out there though for people who don't know or medical facilities trying to avoid paying for interpreting services...I'm looking at you large city hospital refusing to provide a requested sign language interpreter even though it's required under ADA 😒... It's actually best practice not to use family to interpret. Not only is the terminology difficult to interpret correctly at times, especially when it's a child doing it, but it also puts the patient at risk and family member in a very vulnerable position. Imagine it turning out to be something serious, or god forbid a terminal diagnosis. The family member likely will not be in the best headspace to interpret that information. Like asking a child to tell their parent they have cancer, or a sister having to interpret for their brother's urology appt. Family members also aren't neutral parties. Unfortunately there are some who take advantage of certain situations and don't interpret all the info or will change what was actually said. Additionally, as language specialists we're able to note when speech/sign patterns may be off, possibly indicating additional symptoms the practitioner wouldn't otherwise know. Any of these issues are a liability to facilities. It is in everyone's best interest to have a professional interpreter.
In elective informed consent in my hospital it is the case that - if an interpreter is used - the costs are to be borne by the patient himself. This is why some patients prefer to have their relatives translate for them. Nevertheless, the translation by minors is reserved for emergencies
It is unconscionable to put children in a position where they must translate for their parents. This clip isn't funny because its heartbreaking true way too often.
I think the dad might have a stroke...so emergency ct is what should be done next...why is he talking about fairytales and so...maybe his symptoms have been a tia and now he is having a real stroke....?
Having kids interpreting is so wrong for the kids. As a physician we shouldn’t ever do it. It puts pressure on the kids and responsibility they are not mature to handle yet. I know this is joke but I have seen it happened way to much in our medical system.
Or your hospital could pay interpreters attractively so you don't break laws by making families interpret. The hospital is required to provide a professional interpreter as per the ADA. It is illegal to make families interpret - the patient is entitled to a qualified, professional interpreter. And to make children to do it on top of that? This is cringe AF.
I work in a doctors office. We don’t keep interpreters. You are expected to show with a friend who can help or we caveman grunt together…. But my least favorite is when they bring kids to translate for sexual problems. Why would you do that to your kid?!
These kids seem to be WAY more professional than the flirty interpreter 😂 😂
Definitely 😅
That's probably why the interpreter got sacked last week 🤔
i've seen it before (working in the ER i'm particularly prone to this type of situation) and i'm sometimes amazed by the fluency and maturity of those kids who are kind of "parenting their parent" and guiding them through complex conversations that they themselves probably don't always understand... i remember one time the little boy must've been no more than 7 or 8 years old and had to explain to his mum how she was supposed to do *his* bandages... i felt bad for him, and for his mum who might've felt powerless in this scenario.
Lol. Perfect acting: yelling in English always helps when speaking to others who don't speak English.
Honestly, this does sometimes help. Someone who is less familiar with English might not be able to pick up what you're saying when you speak normally. A slow, loud voice can help. Sometimes. Usually they just don't understand you.
This is especially annoying since I used to be an ASL interpreter. So many people thought that if they yelled slowly at my client, they’d somehow understand them better.
When really all it does is give me a headache, make the appointment take longer, and risk a HIPAA violation since everyone in the waiting room can hear the doc shouting my client’s business.
@@nishok938 if someone doesn't understand English, yelling it at them, at any speed, isn't going to help.
@@meri_teri_82 I'm aware of that. I was talking about non-native English speakers who still aren't used to the language - speaking slowly and loudly can help there.
Also, repeating the same thing louder and slower each time until they understand. 100% 0% works everytime.
Thanks for highlighting the importance of language access in Medical Health, history intake is a doctor’s main diagnostic tool and it only makes sense to ensure both doctor and patient understand each other. My boss says that if a doctor cannot communicate with his patient than he is not a doctor, he is a veterinarian. Also fun fact: interpreter and translator is not the same thing, interpreter convert verbal/spoken language while translator converts written language..
don't forget signed language as well!
Reminds me of an old joke.
A veterinarian comes to a doctor's appointment. Doc asks:
"So, what ails you?"
Vet: "THAT'S how easy you have it?!?!
Wow I learned something new. Thanks.
When I was in EMS, the most common language spoken in my area besides English was Spanish. I spoke fluent German, but not Spanish. After several very frustrating encounters using family and friends as translators, and often being able to clearly see that while the patient was saying lots of information but the translator "edited" it, I decided to learn basic Spanish, with an emphasis on medical care. I could usually get through a basic encounter fairly well. I also discovered that in our Russian immigrant communities many of them spoke Yiddish, which has just enough overlap with German that we could muddle through.
Any time we had a non-English speaking pt I'd include that info in my report to our MedCom so they could advise the receiving ED and get started on getting a translation service going.
Once, a BLS provider told me they couldn't get any information from the pt because he didn't speak English. I asked which language he spoke, offering that I spoke both German and Spanish. He replied "He speaks Indian" 🙄 I asked him "Which of the 22 recognized languages in the Indian constitution are you referring to? Hindi, Urdu, Gujarati, Bengali, Tamil, ..." All I got back was a blank stare...
One time patient told me their first language, and I legit had to ask them to spell it for me. I've never felt like such an idiot, I'd never heard of it. Thankfully they were also fluent in arabic, and I was able to book an interpreter for that no problem.
yiddish ??? no way ! i thought it had become a "dying language" (which my grandmother is very upset about)
I completely understand. I'm in EMS now, and a large percentage of my patients are Spanish-speakers, with some of the older ones being non-English-speakers. I'm really glad to have studied Spanish, and taken that extra "Medical Spanish" course in college.
India is the worst when it comes to languages. The country has a dozen different cultures and languages. Extremely diverse country which a lot of people here simply do not understand.
@@RohanKayani Wow. That's worse than the US! Here, it's primarily English or Spanish, with a scattering of... well, pretty much every other culture/language in the world, but in small pockets. And SOMEONE in those pockets, usually the youngsters, speaks English well enough to translate between their elders and the majority of the populace.
had to do this with my parents growing up. One of the biggest reasons why I’m applying to med school in May.
My siblings and I have been translating since we were about 5 or 6. Lol
Facts. Same here.
Same. It gets weird when I have to translate to the OBGYN for my mom though 😂
@@JustinDanielsStar 😂😂😂🤫🤫🤫
Same
This happened at the school I worked for all the time. We sympathized with these kids, and we were grateful for them. We would have had a terrible time without them, because interpreters were not easily available. Great vid, Doc! Kudos!
This actually hits hard for me because I had to translate for my parents when I was little too and it stressed me out. My parents had to schedule appointments around when they would be able to get off work AND when I would be out of school because there was hardly ever spanish translators back then and they needed me. Its also part of the reason why I hated the fact that my school didnt teach other languages until i was in high school and this results in so many english monolinguals today. Not that I want to force anyone to learn a new language(because I had to do that with english to be able to succeed in school) but that it would be nice if we normalized learning more languages at a younger age here in the U.S...Language barriers hurt.
I was wondering after the dad answered the question about hitting his head the first time, when there weren’t subtitles. I thought I was crazy for hearing “me gusta” at the beginning of his answer 😄
Love the lore of the interpretator from the last episode getting fired for her unprofessionalism
I live in California and Spanish is a necessity to provide best care to Hispanic population. I am learning Spanish and my patients support me and correct my mistakes. I also try to use language interpreters in order to understand their issues.
We get a fair number of kids translating for their parents at the Public Library but it's usually lower stakes than this!
I used to work for a telecommunications company. It happened all the time where a 9 year old child was interpreting for their parents, and the parents were making decisions worth hundreds and hundreds of dollars concerning Internet and technology equipment. But from the parent's point of view, talking through their child is the only way they can get the information they need and the problem solved.
Oh yeah when I was working in internet tech support, I was once put on the line and did a full set-up with a 10 year old Korean kid bc his dad's English wasn't good enough to understand the software terms I was using. Kid was smart too, and knew as much if not more than I did in places.
Smoothest install I ever did.
I know my Dad can speak both languages, but when it comes to number.... sigh.
@@alitaniak7404 Nothing to do with language barriers (unless you count tech lingo as a language) but I have found myself as the techie person I end up talking to tech support when something goes wrong. When I was younger I once had a tech support agent from the satellite TV company laugh and tell me that he likes it when there are kids to talk to because most of the time they are more knowledge and able to follow instructions than their parents. I suppose some of it is we grew up with it whereas they didn't.
I really feel this as a second generation immigrant, I always had to translate random legal documents for my parents as a kid
Deja Vu
Towards the end of my late mother's life, she had dementia. She thought she was an eight year old for a bit. One day, we took her to her Doctors appointment, and the translator used the word "hospice" ... Even though it has been changed, back in her days, "a hospice" was an orphanage. She totally freaked out when she said the "bad word." My sister and I ask them to please not say that word before hand. But, she forgot we told her not to. So we had very sad elderly woman who thought she was 8 and we wanted to abandon her the rest of the day. Thank goodness the appointment wasn't that long (thanks to her behavior -she was throwing a fit-) We had to "buy her trust" with a strawberry shake. SNAPS! I wish life was always that easy... Lol
Omg. I had to do for my parents as a kid ALL the time. Brings back memories of frustration and anger.
It's so terrifying to think this actually happens. I can't imagine having to go through something so difficult with a language barrier and kids
It’s even worse when our parents yell at us for not understanding something and not knowing how to translate it
Don't have, I just need to remember because this was my childhood growing up.
@@carinaramirez6759 Yep, that's why I longer help my parents when it comes to translating.
These kids are so cute.
Has nothing to do with proper interpretation.
Kids must be mature beyond their years to successfully translate for their parents in a multitude of settings, none more stressful than in a medical setting. What support can the hospital provide for kids in this situation? Thanks for showing this situation.
Uh...family members cannot translate. Cuz of the bias. They need to have translators and not put this stress on kids...this is just wrong.
Unfortunately we are so understaffed and they just keep firing more and more people for things not related to their ability to do their job. Honestly, this is often all thats available. Hospitals can't even support the patients with so little staff there is nothing they can do for the kids in these cases. We can call social services, but thats going to make everything worse for the family if not cause legal problems in a lot of cases. Its not perfect, but its what we have.
Its only getting worse the more people they fire.
@@midnull6009 If the child can translate and no one else is able to, I think you have to go with letting the child doing it.
What do you mean support? They're translating speech not disarming a time-bomb...
I used to translate for my grandparents when I was a little girl and translating never induced stress, even in a medical setting. If I didn't know a specific medical term, I would admit that I didn't know how to say it and the doctors would break it down even further. We translated all the time so it's something that we were used to doing and I bet that these kids are used to doing as well. These kids are speaking both languages everyday... Spanish at home and English at school. It's not new.
At some agencies the use of small children as interpreters is unethical and not permitted as it places undue emotional stress on them to be in on adult conversations about the health and safety of their parent. Its a scary thing for them. Also, children cannot be expected to understand the meaning and nuances of the questions being asked and the answers provided to translate correctly. Interpreters have training and understanding in medical terms & concepts to be able to give a culturally appropriate assist in explaining things. Small children should not be used except in life threatening emergencies.
It sounds like this could have been a life threatening emergency though, and the doctor wouldn't have even known that had the child not translated.
My siblings and I were often used to act as interpreters and translators for my parents. As the eldest, I started when I was 6. No, young children cannot be expected to fully understand some situations or even understand what some words mean, let alone translate them. Pretty unfair to expect a child to be able to translate and explain insurance to their parents if they haven't even hit puberty yet lol. It could get annoying, but I don't think any of us were particularly stressed out about it.
That would be nice in an ideal world, but the reality is that theres rarely an interpreter available on the spot and if the parents speak a less common language, the probabilities drop to near 0. Sometimes you just have to make do with what you have, especially with the long wait times in hospitals and other healthcare facilities. Not to sound harsh, but "undue emotional stress" is pretty much a given for any child of first generation immigrants who aren't fluent in the spoken language of their new country. Being able to help their parents through the healthcare system is going to help their family get back to their feet sooner, which a good thing in my opinion. These days there are translation apps for the specific medical terms, much better than 10 yrs ago 😁 signed, a lifetime interpreter for my parents
I'm sad crying right now because this is too real for me. "We can't seem to hire interpreters right now" well it would appear we might need to spend a little more money on a JOINT COMMISSION REQUIREMENT that also happens to be BASIC HUMAN DECENCY.
@HeidiMN back in the 80s I was one of two bilingual nurses. We only dealt with our own patients. Patients on other floors who didn't have someone over 16 to translate for them often got to use the services of some of the housekeepers. The majority of the housekeeping staff were Latinos/Latinas. Can you imagine telling a complete stranger all your business?
@@meri_teri_82 I cannot 💔
Hospitals especially have no excuse for interpretors/translators. There are phone based services they can subscribe to which provide objective, competent translation.
@@meri_teri_82 The housekeeping staff was hopefully paid extra for this
@@laurarabon1844 not at all. They often received a luke-warm thank you and then slipped back into invisibility. But there were many who, although they knew what a gallbladder was in Spanish, they didn't recognize the English word for it. Just my opinion but I feel uncertified translators could be dangerous. For example, even though these kids did a great job, they left out the headaches that dad mentioned when he was talking about the numbness he was feeling. Headaches can be a very important symptom.
I have an idea for your next scenario: Video or telephone remote interpreter! I am a VRI and would LOVE to see one on your next video! Kudos to those kids, their interpretation was very accurate, no additions or omissions!
The kids did great for being so young, but they omitted the headaches dad mentioned when he spoke of the numbness. Otherwise, for being so young, they were amazing!
Omg video interpreting for sign language is the only option at my hospital atm due to covid (the in person interpreters have stopped attending) and it is so pointless! How am I meant to take a 90yo confused woman down for a scan if the interpretor can't leave the tiny computer screen in the ward??? Makes me so annoyed, it's such poor practice.
@@catlinboy That's definitely frustrating for everyone. We're offered an interpreter on a tablet. Maybe you could suggest something similar for your facility?
Ya. When you use family to interpret, sometimes they just don't want mom to know she has cancer and will translate all around the real issue (not saying from experience or anything😉
Yep. Also, children (whether minors or adults) don’t always speak both languages well enough to be able to interpret complicated topics like medical symptoms, illnesses, or medicine instructions.
Lots of times the children speak fluent English but make do just speaking the level of a High School 2 class for the language their parents speak.
And in ASL it’s the norm (unfortunately) for Deaf children that are fluent in ASL to have parents that know either no ASL or very minimal ASL.
So doctors offices that don’t know this might just assume the parents can interpret and instead the parents talk to the doc without interpreting anything (because they can’t) and the Deaf patient is left knowing nothing about their own health or treatment.
It happens depressingly often.
This brought me back to my childhood good times, good times.
I am a pharmacy student and I must say that I absolutely love your videos😊 keep going, Doc
....pfft.
The question to "Has he hit his head?"
The Dad's response: I like candy and fried chicken wings.
The kid's interpretation of said response: He likes candy and fairies??
"Adas", which means fairy tales sounds similar to "alas", wings, in spanish. Kids would get confused between the two and instead of asking what that word means, they just go for the interpretation of it that they think makes sense.
Sigh. When I was around the age of these kids, I had to be the interpretor and translator for my parents and I had to do an excellent job at it, least I get shunned by mother. Of course, I thought I was being 'useful' and, therefore, was being an integral part of the family. I didn't know, at the time, that kind of treatment was damaging.
I grew up doing that for both of my parents.
As a nurse, we can't use family members. The places I have worked at have professional translation call lines that are 24hrs... With exception of some odd and ends languages, we usually get the info we need. It's a bit of a hassle sometimes because you need to document all kinds of info regarding the translation call when you have 12 other things to do. But I do feel better getting information directly from patients rather than another family member. The adults in the family often have their own interpretation of what's wrong with the patient.
These kids are going to have a rough day, stuck in the ER with their very ill dad.
This was me translating for my mom when I was little. 😂🇨🇴
PSA: Every patient is legally entitled to an interpreter, which should be utilized for nearly all conversations. Apart for emergencies, it is strongly recommended that friends and family do NOT interpret, because
1. They do not have training in medical language
2. They may have ulterior motives which alter their translation (even positive ones)
f a patient insists on a friend or family interpreting, a waiver can be signed.
Medical practitioners are advised AGAINST providing interpretive services even if they are a native speaker unless they have passed an interpreter examination or received their medical training in that language. This is because they may not cover the same dialect, or may not have training in medical terminology in said language. Studies have shown that native speakers who are medical personnell use more incorrect or english medical words in their interpretation than professional interpretors.
I've been in a room next door and heard nurses incorrectly interpret and tell patients something completely different. I'm not going to get involved but I know a lot of the time you actually can't trust that the employee they use to interpret is even remotely qualified. I've also reviewed medical documents that were so poor translated that they said different thing in each language. Advised my family member to not sign those documents.
This situation happens way too often. Often times my hospital system does have the language interpreters available by phone, but it can be a 2-3 hour wait to get one on the line, especially on the weekends or in the evening. We get horrible reception in my clinic so both me and the patients have to yell into the phone and repeat ourselves ALL THE TIME. The poor interpreters have to raise their voices and repeat themselves as well. Sometimes they hang up on us in the middle of a visit. It is so frustrating and it takes FOREVER. I definitely second ant other commenters who say they want to see you portray phone or video interpreters next!
This hits home. I am lucky i get translators most of the time, but i have been in this situation many times. Now, i use the google translator as a back up.
Hey doc, if you do a 3rd one, I have an idea for you. There is this one doctor who when I translate for him he tries SO hard to do the translating himself despite it being my job. He will be like OPERACIÓN MUY IMPORTANTE. MUCHO DOLOR. and be doing history intake with incredibly broken Spanglish. It’s so awkward because he insists he can do it himself but he really can’t.
Part 3: When the doctor thinks he knows how to translate
I am not Hispanic by any means, white as white gets but my last name, my husband's last name is definitely a Hispanic name. I've been turned down by Drs in my area in the Midwest because, Idk how this is legal, of my last name because they literally assume I'm Hispanic and will need an interpreter and they don't want to have patients like that. I speak no Spanish whatsoever and yet I'm judged by what feels like racist Drs. This is a really good one, Doc.
How do you know that's why they turned you down?
And why is "turning down" patients an option? Denying people medical care. Ugh. Not okay.
That's awful.. I'm blonde, blue eyes, and my married name was Ballejo. I never had any problems. I've never lived in the Midwest tho.
I'm confused why they would think you need an interpreter, when they hear you speaking English to make the appointment.
@@rf5963 they wouldn't. This person is making a lot of assumptions.. There are many possible reasons they have been turned away and they are just assuming it was their name.
@@kathleencardincpm4435 there are several valid reasons. Someone could be rude/mean to staff, the practice could be full, they could be repeatedly late on payments, etc. Just like in any other profession, you can't be forced to perform a service for anyone else.
Ay noooo, pobre hombre, pobre doctor. But really well done, kids🤣
Please give the kids a huge hug for me, they did great. Giggle when you asked the younger one if he spoke Spanish...of course,bur English is what you need. I go slow, write numbers ,talk quietly and clearly....many people understand more than they speak. Still angry so few providers know that most of the world is multi lingual, French is spoken in older Vietnamese,as well as DRC and most Roma. Fair number of Philippino speak Mandarin or Cantonese. Telephone translation is great but you have to understand what translator to ask for
This is my entire childhood in one video. I'm traumatized
Idea for video. Kids hearing screening. Both the big group volunteers screening in kindergarten and the annual screening in peds office. The screeners assume the kid isn’t paying attention… “Come on Joey, focus, when you here the beep raise your hand. Joey, we can’t get thru this if you don’t pay attention and raise your hand.” My 5 yo was no fool, he wanted to be done and make everyone happy. He started raising his hand. True long story.
I speak two lamguages and kids are pretty good as translators. Good for american citizens who speak more than american english.
This brings back memories of translating for my gran.
I'm surprised at how well both children did.
Only one detail, for the boy at the beginning, didn't ask the father what the doctor asked. He just answered the question.
I was an interpreter for
25 years.
I've been in this situation countless times and we do this all the time. We know why our parents go to the doctor based on previous conversations so no point in asking a question that we know the answer to.
I started translating in medical scenarios about 11 years ago when my little brother started having "grand-mal" seizures. Never knew this shouldn't happen until I started nursing school lol
Wow, this was my life growing up with my parents. I remember the first time I did it I was 5. I could barely speak proper English because I had just started taking ESL classes at school. Anyway, I managed to tell the dentist in my broken English that my mother had a bad toothache. Oh the memories.
These kids are the best!
50s something adult child "translating" for their senior parent to understand what the doctors are trying to advise.
Our hospital lost a lot of our non medical support staff with the vaccine mandates and that took out a lot of the interpreters. They surveyed remaining staff to see what second languages we know.
I'm already working an unsafe ratio with mandatory overtime and last week I wet myself because someone could die if I took a bathroom break. We don't have time to be running around translating. Family is absolutely being used more often especially now. Its terrible for privacy, but we just don't have the resources and they are firing even more people.
Honestly, if they tried to make me add translation to my duties I'll quit. At this point I'm close to walking out. Please chill out on who's left and don't judge doctors using Family for translation too hard. It's all we have.
Yeah we’re so understaffed on my hospital … we have pulled in so many agency nurses, techs, etc.
@@MasonHatfieldLogorrhea yup and they aren't familiar with anything which often feels like they are more work than help at my hospital.
@@earthstar7534 plus half of them just there for the money
At least there are two of them so you can double check your work!
These kids did a really good job... but they didn't mention the headaches dad reported when he mentioned numbness.
Kids are okay for interpreting when you're gathering info, not so much when you're delivering results. Can be hard on them emotionally if it's bad news. And what if they don't know what something means, or is, in English, much less in another language?
That used to be me as a kid translating for my parents lol
Oh my god if that were a real situation it would be so scary for those poor kids.
Get a CT assess for a stroke , labs, drug screening if labs and CT are normal then a STAT neuro consult.
I used to be this kid for years
First! also, love your vids and tik toks!
Papa zoned out! That was so funny. Great job.
I remember basically doing this for all my family. Me and my cousins would struggle to do so but would get the point across.
As I got older, the doctors in the hospital would ask me to translate and would later give me cookies or ice cream.
I didn’t know it was illegal.
Oh Lord I can only imagine. It's bad enough when everyone speaks the same language. A co-worker had to leave work suddenly to take their brother to the ER for an injury. When they got back we asked "How is your brother?" They said: "The doctor says he has a ball in his head but he will be alright." ?????? After much questioning we determined the brother had a concussion. I still puzzle over what the doctor said that translated to "he has a ball in his head".
Candies 🤣🤣🤣
I remember one time as a kid I was trying to translate for my aunt over the phone but the guy refused to speak to me because I was just a kid. I guess he figured it'd be easier for him to rip off someone who couldn't really understand what he was saying >.>
Not standard stroke symptoms, but I'd be very concerned at this moment, especially as the father seems to be losing coherence/consciousness. And the son senses it!! Wow, amazing scenario!
One night I was assigned to a patient who only spoke RUSSIAN!!! She talked to me like I was her long lost bestest friend in the world. I only remember one word: squaerka. After she got done talking she opened her arms big, smiled and hugged me. Nicest lady ever, but I never knew one thing she said. We had no one in the hospital to interpret on night shift. I think she had family who knew English but they couldn't stay with her. That should have never happened.
I like candies and fairytales too😅
I can recall a rather elegant older Italian lady who had presented with abd. pain. The intern showed me a screening flat plate with evidence of a parasitic infection involving her liver.
I went with him to the bedside and she could see that we were a little befuddled as to how to explain this and decided to wait for a family member to return. She tapped me on the arm, pointed to her liver and said, "Echinococcus..Roma". Her parasitic infection had already been diagnosed in Rome. We were deflated.
I'm so confused but the ending was so cute and funny. "You were right" 😛
This was me. My parents are Mexican immigrants. It's an absolute travesty that children have to do this.
I worked in a hospital where we had patients speak in 4 different languages. Different cultures. I only knew one so I would pray everyday I wouldn't get a patient I couldn't understand and had to present during rounds lol. Also I made good friends with the nurses who spoke the other languages.
It was stressful but at least I'm good in non-verbal communication 😂
There is a bat rescuer on TH-cam who describes the bats with head injuries as being “off with the fairies.” So apparently this Dad was giving a correct answer. lol
I have to translate for my mom all the time lol. Sometimes from another state 1000 miles away. Hey at least Spanish is a fairly common language in the US. My mom was never able to use the interpreter system, I don't even know they exist at any of her clinics.
🤣this is so damn real!!!! Legit💯
It's so stressful for the kids. And sick kids in the hospital having to translate for their parents when they feel so poorly themselves is also an issue. It does tend to force kids to grow up quicker and places an unfair burden on them.
My husband just hands them a tablet and runs it through Google translate (he is not in a critical field). It's a lot better than it was and it gets him to a good starting point if no one's around.
If he is in medicine in the US, that is illegal. Same in many other protected industries such as financial.
@@kts8900 I said he was not in a critical field.
My siblings and I had to translate for my parents as kids. We still do, but only one of us still lives at home, so now it all falls on him. As the eldest, I started when I was around 6 years old. My parents tried to have a friend help, but she had her own life and grandkids to raise, so when she was unavailable, we had to step up. It was annoying, especially when my parents expected 10 year old to fully translate and explain insurance letters or medical terminology lol, but not what I would call stressful.
Our local hospitals use a translation phone line.
But sometimes the line doesn't have the language needed available... or it takes 20 plus minutes to find it
Most Doctors 'dO YoU UNderSTand ENGLISH!!!'
More like we need to get you to an ICE detention center 🤣
This is way too cute
It's sad, my parents went through this and I had to interpret when I was a child. That's why I'm a nurse today. I can be a patient advocate for the Latino community 💪
I love all your sketches! I do want to throw this out there though for people who don't know or medical facilities trying to avoid paying for interpreting services...I'm looking at you large city hospital refusing to provide a requested sign language interpreter even though it's required under ADA 😒...
It's actually best practice not to use family to interpret. Not only is the terminology difficult to interpret correctly at times, especially when it's a child doing it, but it also puts the patient at risk and family member in a very vulnerable position. Imagine it turning out to be something serious, or god forbid a terminal diagnosis. The family member likely will not be in the best headspace to interpret that information. Like asking a child to tell their parent they have cancer, or a sister having to interpret for their brother's urology appt. Family members also aren't neutral parties. Unfortunately there are some who take advantage of certain situations and don't interpret all the info or will change what was actually said. Additionally, as language specialists we're able to note when speech/sign patterns may be off, possibly indicating additional symptoms the practitioner wouldn't otherwise know. Any of these issues are a liability to facilities. It is in everyone's best interest to have a professional interpreter.
Hahah. Remind me when I had to translate for my my. I was 16 at the time. Awkward
In elective informed consent in my hospital it is the case that - if an interpreter is used - the costs are to be borne by the patient himself. This is why some patients prefer to have their relatives translate for them. Nevertheless, the translation by minors is reserved for emergencies
Pull up Google translate, open it, learn how to say 'bad dr' and not rush this guy off for expensive tests lol.
Nurse aid trying to check vitals on a patient who doesn't speak English and also has dementia ((totally not speaking from experience here, no way!))
Can you do an OBGYN consult?
Never have I ever heard a doctor say: we only have so much time for an appointment
He won’t actually say that to the patients I don’t think so anyways
oh god i had this experience before 😅
My son is in a chaplain fellowship…have you done any scenarios with chaplains?
It's sad because it's true
Omg translating as a kid is so stressful too🤣
Can we use Google translate? I did it once as a student nurse with a patient who needed help filling his pre-op checklist
That's a tremendous liability and unethical, just like using family or anyone not certified as an interpreter.
Perhaps if you had talked LOUDER, he would have understood.
It is unconscionable to put children in a position where they must translate for their parents. This clip isn't funny because its heartbreaking true way too often.
Try one with a deaf patient and no interpreter. Happens more than you think.
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 happy Halloween 🎃
That's not right..legally the hospital system has to provide an interpreter and cannot rely on family members.
I think the dad might have a stroke...so emergency ct is what should be done next...why is he talking about fairytales and so...maybe his symptoms have been a tia and now he is having a real stroke....?
Aah ok missed the last sentence...I thought your question about what scenario we should do next Was ment about the symptoms 🤣🙈
@@frauleinzimt : Well, you got the right answer!
Hey Doc, what are your thoughts on Paxlovid?
Having kids interpreting is so wrong for the kids. As a physician we shouldn’t ever do it. It puts pressure on the kids and responsibility they are not mature to handle yet. I know this is joke but I have seen it happened way to much in our medical system.
translating i pad
Or your hospital could pay interpreters attractively so you don't break laws by making families interpret. The hospital is required to provide a professional interpreter as per the ADA. It is illegal to make families interpret - the patient is entitled to a qualified, professional interpreter. And to make children to do it on top of that? This is cringe AF.
I work in a doctors office. We don’t keep interpreters. You are expected to show with a friend who can help or we caveman grunt together…. But my least favorite is when they bring kids to translate for sexual problems. Why would you do that to your kid?!
The pt's acting was too real
I know this is a skit, but I should probably point out that this is illegal af.
But it’s still done so, so often.