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. 2025 Aug;12(4):2771-2782.
doi: 10.1007/s40615-024-02088-9. Epub 2024 Jul 12.

Challenges in the Transition from Acute Hospital Care to Home for Spanish-Speaking Latino Patients with TBI and Families: Perspectives of Healthcare Providers and Interpreters

Stephanie O Ibemere  1 , HyunBin You  1 , Victoria McReynolds  1 , Michelle Huang  1 , Brian Anaya  1 , Rosa M Gonzalez-Guarda  1 , Janet Prvu Bettger  1   2 , Tolu O Oyesanya  3
Affiliations

Challenges in the Transition from Acute Hospital Care to Home for Spanish-Speaking Latino Patients with TBI and Families: Perspectives of Healthcare Providers and Interpreters

Stephanie O Ibemere et al. J Racial Ethn Health Disparities. 2025 Aug.

Abstract

Language-based disparities negatively impact patient outcomes. Spanish-speaking Latino patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI) transitioning home from acute hospital care and their families have poor TBI-related outcomes; further, they have significant difficulties navigating the healthcare system due to care fragmentation and limited provider support. These challenges are exacerbated by language barriers. There are disproportionately fewer bilingual providers and interpreters in the U.S. healthcare system for patients with TBI for whom English is not their primary language. Although Spanish-speaking Latino patients with TBI and their families communicate with healthcare providers using interpreters on a regular basis, limited research has explored the healthcare delivery perspective. The purpose of this study was to understand the perspectives of healthcare providers and interpreters regarding their experience caring for or supporting Spanish-speaking Latino patients with TBI and their families during the transition home from acute hospital care. This qualitative descriptive study included 10 bilingual (English and Spanish-speaking) participants: 7 interdisciplinary providers and 3 interpreters; findings were analyzed using rapid qualitative analysis to inform intervention adaptation. Four themes were identified: 1) language misalignment decreases health literacy and increases length of stay; 2) TBI-related cognitive impairments, coupled with language differences, make communication challenging; 3) unique social contributors to health directly decrease health equity; and 4) recommendations to improve access and justice in transitional care. There are multiple opportunities to improve transitional care support provided to Spanish-speaking Latino patients with TBI and their families in a manner that is not currently being addressed in research or in practice.

Keywords: Brain injuries; Health disparities; Spanish-speaking; Transitional care; Traumatic.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declarations. Ethics Approval: This study was performed in line with the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki. Approval was granted by the Ethics Committee of Duke University Health System (Pro00103181). Consent to Participate: Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study. Competing Interests: The authors declare no competing interests.

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