1. Collecting Primary Language Information LINKED-DISC - provincial database system for early childhood intervention Services Herb Chan

2. Purposes of Collecting Primary Language Information  Language related access barriers and interpreter services?  Assessing service disparities among different ethnic communities?  Providing ethnically or culturally appropriate services?  Matching families with similar language/culture for group services/programs?  Designing language and cultural training workshops for service providers?

3. 1.Both parents with limited English 2.One of the two parents with limited English Interpreter service may be needed when: Language Barrier

4. Interpreter Service as proxy for Language Barrier Some families may speak limited English but for some reasons did not want interpreter services. Some families may speak limited English. No interpreter was requested because the service provider was able to speak their language

5. Are we interested in the family’s  Ethnic background?  Cultural background? Ethnicity

6. Race suggests a biological basis for socially constructed categories and implies genetic homogeneity within broadly defined heterogeneous population. Ethnicity means different things in different context. In a general term, ethnicity refers to membership in a wide range of groups defined by culture, heritage or national origin. Culture can be defined as all the ways of life including arts, beliefs and institutions of a population that are passed down from generation to generation. Terminology

7. 1British 2Canadian 3Chinese 4German 5East Indian 6Aboriginal 7Dutch 8Irish 9French 10Italian 11Ukrainian 12Filipino 13Polish 14Japanese 15Korean 16Portuguese 17Vietnamese 18Norwegian 19Russian 20Hungarian Top 20 Self-Identified Ethnic Origins in BC

8. Issues in collecting ethnicity data in a multicultural society  Multiple ethnic backgrounds (Kaplan & Bennett, 2003)  Relationship between health outcome and ethnicity is not a straightforward concept  We need to know the purpose of collecting ethnic information. For example, are we interested in studying underserved ethnic communities?  If we focus on the ethnicity only, information such as recent immigrants will be missed.

11. Primary Language as Proxy for Cultural information  This might just be a good alternative Cultural Background

12.  Recent immigrant,  The way we live,  Cultural background, and/or  Health belief Primary language spoken at home reflects:

13. Primary Languages in BC (at least 75 languages) Czech Serbo-Croatian French Danish Greek Hindi Punjabi Romanian Dutch Russian Japanese English Farsi Italian Polish Hungarian German Gujarati Croatian Serbian Chinese- Mandarin Chinese- Cantonese Spanish Tagalog Ukrainian Urdu Vietnamese

14. Source: Statistics Canada 2001 Top 20 most common languages in BC Single responsesCanada British Columbia English173523152825780 Cantonese322315127155 Punjabi271220121740 German43808084605 French670333054400 Mandarin10179048880 Tagalog17406035940 Spanish24549528235 Italian46949028165 Korean8507028105 Dutch12867026745 Vietnamese12205523220 Farsi9409521290 Hindi5632020295 Japanese3481517900 Polish20837517320 Russian9455514920 Portuguese21381014155 Ukrainian14808513600 Hungarian7555510775

15.  Aboriginal/First Nations Languages  American Sign Language  English + Another language Don’t forget these

16. Primary Language of the Child:  Same as primary caregiver’s?  English + primary caregiver’s language?  A different dialect from parents’ when grandparent is the primary caregiver?  Sign language?

17. LINKED-DISC Database Family Information Module Primary caregiver 1 – ESL as language barrier Primary caregiver 2 – ESL as language barrier Primary caregiver 1 – Primary Language Primary caregiver 2 – Primary Language Interpreter service and comment

18. ESL – Primary Caregiver  Yes, and is a barrier  Yes, but not a barrier  No  Let parents and caregivers determine !!!

19. Primary Language – Primary Caregiver 1  Primary Caregiver preferred language for Communication  Service Provider may need to ask family’s preference Chinese - Mandarin

20. Interpreter Service  Yes  No Interpreter Comment Free Text

21. Child’s Language English Reading Material English Chinese-Mandarin 1st 2nd

22. References Obtaining Data on Patient Race, Ethnicity, and Primary Language in Health Care Organizations: Current Challenges and Proposed Solutions. Hasnain-Wynia and Baker: Health Services Research 41(4): 1501-1517, 2006 The Assessment and Documentation of Language and Communication Needs in Healthcare System: Current Practices and Future Directions for Coordinating Safe, Patient-Centred Care. Nalion: Nursing Outlook 55: 311-317, 2007 Glossary of Terms Relating to Ethnicity and Race: For reflection and Debate Bhopal: Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health 58:441-445, 2004 User of Race and Ethnicity in Biomedical Publication. Kaplan and Bennett 289: 2709 -2716, 2007

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