Developing a Dialect and Accent Digital Technologies Library (DADTL)

Even though health care information (HCI) may be accessed online, due to various interdependent and compounding barriers, disadvantaged populations are still unable to acquire this health information at the same level as those who can access information online. A significant amount of disadvantaged populations and, by extension, their families and the community at large utilize their local hospital for their health care and HCI, but dialects, languages, and accents among patients and health care workers (HCWs) can impede communication and decrease the credibility, accessibility, delivery, acceptance, and trust of health care and HCI. Currently, hospital digital technologies (DTs) via phone and video supplemented with language-concordant printed materials are used but have significant drawbacks, including the availability of patients’ online access and hardware, the expense of DTs for hospitals, the  requirement of synchronous use of DTs, the inability of DTs to be used in all locations in the hospital, and the fact that the use of current translation services may not be optimal in all situations. As such, other modalities for delivering information to patients are needed. A digital technology library comprised of dialects, languages, and accent-specific interactive audio recorders (IARs) could provide more options to disadvantaged patients, reduce communication barriers, and optimize the use of DTs. A library consisting of IARs could provide credible and accurate information, combat misinformation, impact social determinants of heath in the area of heath information access and narrow the digital divide.