Ambulance Telehealth: Comparing Telehealth Outcomes of Non-English Speaking Patients to English Proficient Patients

Grant ID: EMEG-053R40-2023-LAM

Project Summary

Paramedics are increasingly having to provide culturally competent care to non-English speaking (NES) patients as a result of growing multiculturalism in our communities. Despite this, healthcare literature continues to highlight poorer levels of access to healthcare and overall poorer health outcomes in NES individuals. Since the COVID-19 Pandemic, expansions in the realm of ambulance telehealth have highlighted complexities with providing culturally appropriate care to NES speaking patients due to inherent communication barriers associated with telecommunication. Although there is existing research exploring the disparities in conventional telehealth use among NES patients, there is limited research of this cohort in the setting of ambulance telehealth where presentations tend to be more acute in nature. Therefore, the aim of this study is to explore the challenges of providing ambulance telehealth services to NES patients by identifying how telehealth specific key performance indicators (KPIs) of this cohort compare to English proficient patients.

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