Literacy Live!

Health Literacy in the Classroom

The United States healthcare system is overwhelming and confusing, even for those who were born in the US and who speak perfect English; now just imagine how you would feel if you were sick and you couldn’t communicate with the people you needed to in order to get better.

For the past couple of weeks, LCNV has had the pleasure of welcoming Kate Singleton of Inova Fairfax Hospitals into our classrooms.  Kate presented student-centered health literacy information at our class sites in Herndon, Lorton, Falls Church, Alexandria, and Springfield.  Kate, a social worker by training, is now working under the auspices of a grant through Inova that allows her to give workshops to ESOL instructors and healthcare providers on how to meet the unique healthcare needs of the immigrant and refugee populations we serve in our classrooms.  Kate is herself a former ESOL instructor, and through her experiences in the classroom, she discovered the great need for informing ESOL students of effective ways of navigating the US healthcare system.   Kate also visits ESOL classrooms and through a wonderful series of multi-level friendly “picture stories” that she developed, she is able to illustrate some very important healthcare concepts that left our students feeling empowered and informed.

First, Kate talked to the students about emergency room visits in the US.   In most cases, ER fees for uninsured patients in the US are thousands of dollars more expensive than what a similar visit would cost in our students’ native countries.  People who are new to the US are unaware of these price differences and may make the costly mistake of going to the emergency room for a minor ailment such as the flu, when it would actually be in their best interests to visit one of the many free or sliding-scale clinics available to uninsured individuals in Northern Virginia.

Another major problem that Kate addressed in her presentations is the issue of uninsured people failing to get treatment when health problems are small due to the costliness of a doctor visit in the US.   If small health problems are left untreated, a once minor issue has the potential of either landing the individual in the emergency room or of becoming a chronic condition, both of which are much more costly, not to mention dangerous, outcomes in the long run.  Kate gave the students a packet of information on free and sliding-scale clinics in the Northern Virginia area, as well as information on facilities that provide mental health services and legal aide, plus lost-cost dental, vision, and hearing options for our students. 

Two of the most important concepts that students walked away with were the following two questions that they now know to ask when they find themselves in need of medical services: “Can I have a translator, please?” and “Can I speak with a financial counselor, please?”  The former refers to a law specifically designated to help people who are uncomfortable using English take control of their circumstances when speaking with the doctor.  If a clinic or a hospital receives federal money, it is required by law to provide translation services to all patients, but the catch is that patients need to know to ask.

The second question refers to situations that many uninsured people find themselves in when they have medical emergencies: having to pay for extremely high emergency room bills.  The students learned that while US emergency room visits can be much higher than in their native countries, they do have some options.  But patients are once again the ones responsible for advocating for themselves and asking to speak with a financial counselor.   A financial counselor can provide one of three options depending on the severity of a patient’s financial circumstances.   Sometimes a discount can help alleviate a portion of the bill, other times a payment plan can spread the bill out over the course of a number of months, or in the most extreme cases a hospital can provide ‘charity’ in which the bill is waived.        

LCNV has been incredibly lucky in establishing a connection with Kate Singleton because as an ESOL teacher, I often find myself in situations with my students where I am one of the only English-speaking people they know and trust.  I am not a doctor or a lawyer or social worker, and I feel incredibly inadequate when I am presented with the very important questions students have that fall very far outside my knowledge base.  During Kate’s presentations at my three class sites, I took a backseat position and was able to watch my students as they listened to and absorbed all of the important information Kate shared that I wouldn’t have been able to give them.  Thank you so much, Kate!

-Alicia Nieves, Lead Teacher and AmeriCorps Member