Reflection

This phase was definitely the hardest but the phase that I learned the most from. Finding the topic itself was easy but finding the sources for a topic was hard. Sometimes I wouldn’t know how to iterate my topic on the search engine. So I really worked harder on finding sources for this phase. The main course outcome I focused on is number 7 which says “   Locate research sources (including academic journal articles, magazine and newspaper articles) in the library’s databases or archives and on the Internet and evaluate them for credibility, accuracy, timeliness, and bias.”. Once I found the sources I had to make sure it was reliable and also that it had the quality content I needed. Another new objective that I learned was synthesizing sources. I learned how to expand quotes and analyze it better or in other words “rhetorical precis”. That would fall under course learning outcome number 9 which is “ Practice systematic application of citation applications”. I chose a language topic that related with COVID-19 as I felt as it would’ve been a very relative topic to today and my sources would be very fresh and recent. As I learned more about how it affected non-English speakers, it really made me sympathetic towards the populations that were harshly affected. My audience for this essay are probably relatives of people who have non-English speaking family members. Another audience I tried to target were people that had influence over hospitals and people that were able to create programs. I was able to accomplish this using a very formal and analytical tone. I was able to use personal accounts and also statistics. As usual, just like the other phases, the breakout rooms were very helpful. Each breakout room helped shape my essay better. Isabel was a very good critiquer and helped me find spots where I can improve on. My organization was pretty messay at the start because I wasn’t the best at using rhetorical precis. However, as soon as I organized it more and peer reviewed, I feel as if my essay got better.

 

Simoun Urcia

Phase 3 Research essay

 

Imagine your ailing grandma or grandpa in critical condition due to the harsh COVID-19 virus. They don’t speak good English and unfortunately there is no one in the hospital that can translate their foreign language. Unfortunately, this is the sad case for many non-English speaking minorities in America. Many places in America don’t have the proper resources to aid ethnic minorities during this pandemic. Through analysis of statistics, accounts of patients, and family members, we see that many non-English speaking groups in America are not receiving proper care.

America is the most diverse country in the world. Although diversity is a beauty itself, it can cause complications during a pandemic. The Census Bureau reports that there are at least 350 different languages spoken in America. In New York, one of the most diverse cities in the world, the census bureau estimates at least 192 different languages are spoken at home (Census Bureau, 2015). During a pandemic, it proves to be quite a difficult task to provide information to all these different people. However, America is one of the richest nations in the world and should be able to provide for the weak, no matter the circumstances.

Some places in America have more resources than others for non-English speakers. David Velasquez, a student at Harvard Medical school, in his Health Affairs blog, “Equitable Access to Health Information for Non-English Speakers Amidst the Novel Coronavirus Pandemic” asserts that although the government has made some successful programs to help ethnic minorities in places like New York and Florida, there still needs to be more work done in other places. Velasquez supports his statement by providing examples that in some US counties, limited English-speaking families are confused because there are not a lot of sources of news that are not English (Velasquez,2020). Velasquez’s purpose is to spread light about how there are many places in America where ethnic minorities are not getting proper healthcare in order to show readers how this can affect populations amidst the pandemic. Due to the author’s formal and analytical tone, he writes for government and program workers that can possibly help make a change in these communities with ethnic minorities. In that same article, it states that residents of Greenville, South Carolina “… recently voiced concerns over not knowing enough about COVID-19”. Although places such as Greenville, South Carolina are not as diverse as NYC, we shouldn’t fail in providing them the proper resources to combat this pandemic.

However, even in New York there are still issues in dealing with non-English Speaking patients.  Joshua Kaplan, a senior reporting fellow at ‘ProRepublica’, wrote an article called  “Hospitals have left many COVID-19 patients who don’t speak English alone, confused and without proper healthcare”. He argues that many immigrants are not receiving proper health care during the pandemic (Kaplan, 2020). He reinforces his argument by giving an example of a Hungarian elderly woman who had symptoms of COVID-19 but was placed in a unit for non-covid patients because she wasn’t able to properly speak English. That woman died the next day. His purpose of adding that account is to make readers aware of the sad realities many immigrant populations have to face in order to help demand for change within these hospitals. Joshua’s audience likely consists of those who are worried about their relatives that don’t speak English well or are too old as is evident through his usage of personal accounts within NYC hospitals. He uses a very expressive and critical tone. In that same article, Joshua brings up a great point. In general, non-English speakers already have a hard time receiving quality healthcare service in America. Imagine how much harder it would be amidst a pandemic. It seems as if the pandemic has already put a lot of stress on doctors and other frontline workers that sometimes they might not have the patience to deal with someone who doesn’t speak English.

The second most spoken language in the USA is spanish. However, in many areas where Spanish speakers live, they are not receiving proper care during the pandemic. Martha Bebinger is a health care reporter. In her article “The Pandemic Imperiled Non-English speakers in a hospital” she explains how latin american communities are severely affected by the pandemic. She does so by providing examples. She states “..lower-income communities within and just outside Boston, where the coronavirus spread quickly among many native Spanish speakers who live in close quarters with jobs they can’t do from home.”(Bebinger, 2021). She further supplements her claim by adding that many hispanics fear to go to the hospital because of immigration authorities. Immigration status on top of not being able to speak English makes the pandemic a bit harder for these minorities. Her target audience is definitely hospital workers or people that can make programs that can change this. A life is a life, no one should be denied health care that can possibly save them just because of their immigration status or if they can speak English or not. Perhaps, we may need more aggressive forms of health aid. Since some people are scared due to immigration status and will hide, we need to go to these low-income communities, create clinics programs there to help spread the word. It is way better than them not going to the hospitals at all because of their fears.

Not only in the hospital are minority ethnic groups being treated unfairly but also in clinical trials for vaccines. JoNel Aleccia, a senior correspondent for ‘Kaiser Health News’, in her article “The color of COVID: will vaccine trials reflect America’s diversity?” expresses how historically, minority groups have always typically been excluded in clinical trials for treatments or vaccines. She further strengthens her argument by saying that “Blacks make up about 13% of the U.S. population but on average 5% of clinical trial participants, research shows. For Hispanics, trial participation is about 1% on average, though they account for about 18% of the population.” Her purpose of adding this quote was to further elaborate on her main idea. Although America is a diverse nation, we mainly use white patients for test trials. It may be perhaps a form of discrimination because white patients may correspond better because they understand English clearly but some minority groups don’t speak English as well. She has a very formal and analytical style as she wants to draw the attention of companies that create these trials for vaccines. You might think “Why is it important in the first place to diversify clinical trial patients?”. She adds in her article that “… people of different races and ethnicities can respond differently to drugs or therapies”. This is important because different minority groups might have a prevalent health condition within that group. For example, some ethnic groups might have higher heart problems. Would the vaccine have any effect on people with heart issues? It would be best to diversify trials as we would get to understand how different groups react to whatever the ingredients are in the vaccines.

Further adding on about vaccines. Once the vaccines were released to the public. It is harder for non-English speakers to obtain the vaccine. Cristina Silva, a reporter for USA Today explores this topic. She states “More than two months after the first coronavirus vaccine shots were distributed in the USA, many states and local governments provide limited vaccine information in languages other than English.” (Silva,2021). So not only is the government failing ethnic minority groups in vaccine trials, they are also failing these groups in properly giving them the vaccines. How are we going to end this pandemic if we don’t provide information for all groups of people? As stated before, we need more programs that are aggressive finding these communities with many ethnic groups. Christina Silva uses a very formal and critical tone in her article. Her critical tone suggests an urgency to fix this issue.

On the contrary, some people might consider that the government is working hard and that there are a lot of programs and assistance already in place to help non-english speakers and minorities. Here in New York, Governor Andrew Cuomo has placed many programs to help out ethnic minorities. On March 26,2021 launched the language access policy which provides help to non-English speakers during this pandemic (ny.gov).  As stated before, New York is very diverse and needs as much aid as possible. However, other places outside of New York aren’t getting proper attention. New York is not the only place with non-English speaking minorities. For example, as stated before, some minorities in Greenville, South Carolina were confused because there was no news in their language. The ultimate goal is to provide opportunities in every state for many different language groups.

All in all, America is the most diverse nation in the world. It needs a more aggressive approach to be able to reach these groups of people that don’t speak English. Some non-English speakers will not know about the pandemic because the news is only in English or they might be afraid because of their status. So if they can’t come to the hospitals, we should go to their communities and help them. It may be more expensive but this is a pandemic we are talking about. During a pandemic we shouldn’t forget about any group. If we help every single group, the faster life will get back to normal.

 

 

 

Sources used so far

1. JoNel Aleccia, Kaiser Health News. “The Color of COVID: Will Vaccine Trials Reflect America’s Diversity?” The NM Political Report, 28 July 2020, nmpoliticalreport.com/2020/07/28/the-color-of-covid-will-vaccine-trials-reflect-americas-diversity.
2. Velasquez, David, et al. “Equitable Access To Health Information For Non-English Speakers Amidst The Novel Coronavirus Pandemic.” Org, heal affairs, 2 Apr. 2020, www.healthaffairs.org/do/10.1377/hblog20200331.77927/full.
3. ProPublica, and Joshua Kaplan. “Hospitals Have Left Many COVID-19 Patients Who Don’t Speak English Alone, Confused and Without Proper Care.” ProPublica, 31 Mar. 2020, www.propublica.org/article/hospitals-have-left-many-covid19-patients-who-dont-speak-english-alone-confused-and-without-proper-care.
4. “Language Access Policy.” Welcome to the State of New York, 20 Apr. 2021, www.ny.gov/language-access-policy.
5. Yoon-Ji Kang, Esther. “For Non-English Speakers, Language Is A Barrier During The COVID-19 Pandemic.” WBEZ Chicago, 29 May 2020, www.wbez.org/stories/for-non-english-speakers-language-is-a-barrier-during-the-covid-19-pandemic/72f6c85c-7f89-4e60-807d-60ab946af265.
6. US Census Bureau. “Census Bureau Reports at Least 350 Languages Spoken in U.S. Homes.” The United States Census Bureau, 3 Nov. 2015, www.census.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2015/cb15-185.html.
7. Silva, Cristina Usa Today. “‘It’s Life and Death’: Non-English Speakers Struggle to Get COVID-19 Vaccine across US.” USA TODAY, 22 Feb. 2021, eu.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2021/02/22/covid-19-vaccine-registration-non-english-speakers-left-behind/4503655001.
8. https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/KObhRXNuXTs0crD3vT44cIQZwuU=/0x0:4586×3057/1200×800/filters:focal(1927×1163:2659×1895)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/66161038/1195641477.jpg.0.jpg   (first image)