Award Date

5-15-2026

Degree Type

Doctoral Project

Degree Name

Occupational Therapy Doctorate

Department

Brain Health

First Committee Member

Sharon Jalene

Number of Pages

118

Abstract

Background: Current language service practices fail to meet the needs of Spanish-speaking patients with Limited English Proficiency (LEP) resulting in decreased satisfaction with care, understanding of diagnosis education, and increased risk of post-discharge health disparities. Language-concordant care has been found to improve patient satisfaction with care and increase quality of transition from hospital to home. Research on language-concordant OT care is scarce and current studies suggest that language discordance leads to decreased quality of OT care for Spanish speakers. Problem: Language discordance leads to poor understanding of OT’s role and decreases patient-centered care for Spanish-speaking patients. Purpose: This project aimed to assess the impact of language-concordant OT education on home discharge readiness for Spanish-speaking patients with LEP in an inpatient rehabilitation hospital. Methods: A quasi-experimental pretest-posttest design was employed comparing a Spanish-speaking treatment group and English-speaking control group. A total of three participants (N = 3) completed the study, with two Spanish-speakers (n = 2) and one English-speaking (n = 1) participant. The Readiness for Hospital Discharge Readiness Scale – Adult Short Form (RHDS-SF) was used to assess discharge readiness during pre- and post-tests. Results: Participants reported improvements in individual, raw, and mean RHDS-SF discharge readiness scores during the post-test. Conclusions: Findings from this project suggest that language-concordant OT education enhanced home discharge readiness for Spanish-speaking patients. Implications: OT practitioners should use these findings to reinforce the importance of using language-accessible educational resources to support discharge readiness of Spanish-speaking patients. Future research is needed to further comprehend which factors influence home discharge readiness among Spanish speakers receiving OT services.

Keywords

Language accessibility; Language-concordant care; Language-discordant care; Limited English Proficiency; Occupational Therapy; Spanish speakers

Disciplines

Medicine and Health Sciences | Occupational Therapy | Rehabilitation and Therapy

File Format

PDF

File Size

10400 KB

Degree Grantor

University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Language

English

Rights

IN COPYRIGHT. For more information about this rights statement, please visit http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

Download


Share

COinS