Providing Multilingual Access to Health-Oriented Content

Finding health-related content is not an easy task. People have to know what to search for, which medical terms to use, and where to find accurate information. This task becomes even harder when people such as immigrants wish to find information in their country of residence and do not speak the national language very well. In this paper, we present a new health information system that allows users to search for health information using natural language queries composed of multiple languages. We present the technical details of the system and outline the results of a preliminary user study to demonstrate the usability of the system

Providing multilingual access to health-related content

Finding health-related content is not an easy task. People have to know what to search for, which medical terms to use, and where to find accurate information. This task becomes even harder when people such as immigrants wish to find information in their country of residence and do not speak the national language very well. In this paper, we present a new health information system that allows users to search for health information using natural language queries composed of multiple languages. We present the technical details of the system and outline the results of a preliminary user study to demonstrate the usability of the system

Deficits in psycho-oncological care among Turkish immigrant women with breast cancer in Germany – an interview study

Spallek L, Yilmaz-Aslan Y, Klein-Ellinghaus F, et al. Deficits in psycho-oncological care among Turkish immigrant women with breast cancer in Germany – an interview study. International Journal of Psychotherapy Practice and Research. 2017;1(2):1-10

Wie lassen sich fremdsprachige qualitative Interviews übersetzen? Ein Vergleich von drei Translationsmethoden

Die Übersetzung von muttersprachlichen Interviews stellt in der qualitativen Forschung mit Migrantinnen und Migranten eine besondere Herausforderung dar. Bisher existieren keine Empfehlungen zur methodischen Vorgehensweise bei der Übersetzung. In diesem Beitrag werden drei Translationsmethoden eingesetzt und im Anschluss vergleichend bewertet. Es zeigt sich, dass die verschiedenen Translationsmethoden zu Differenzen in der Qualität der Übersetzungsergebnisse und zu Unterschieden in Bezug auf den Ressourcenaufwand führen. Dabei haben sich unterschiedliche Probleme bei allen untersuchten Translationsmethoden gezeigt. Dieser Artikel zielt darauf ab, einen Beitrag zur höheren Transparenz des Übersetzungsprozesses von qualitativen Interviews in der Forschung mit Migrantinnen und Migranten zu leisten.In 2010, an estimated 15.7 million migrants lived in Germany, 2.5 million with Turkish migrant background. Data on migrant health are essential for providing appropriate health services to this population group. In particular, data of qualitative research are influenced by the translation of native interviews. Research based on native qualitative interviews is a challenge, especially because there are no guidelines targeting the methodological approach so far. Three different translation approaches are presented and, using prior developed criteria, evaluated comparatively. The usage of three translation approaches differs in terms of quality of translation as well as their resource expenditure. We observed different problems in the all three examined translation approaches that need to be taken into account. A transparent reflection of the translation process should be used as a quality criterion in qualitative research. This study aims to make a contribution to the transparency of the translation process within the context of qualitative research

Assessing the acceptability and usability of an internet-based intelligent health assistant developed for use among Turkish migrants: Results of a study conducted in Bremen, Germany

The Internet offers a new chance for health professionals to reach population groups not usually reached through traditional information channels, for example, migrants. Criticism has, however, been raised that most health information on the Internet is not easy to read and lacks cultural sensitivity. We developed an Internet-based bilingual health assistant especially for Turkish migrants in Germany, tested its acceptance, and evaluated its usability in a participatory research design with families with and without Turkish migrant background. The interactive health assistant covered the following: nutrition, physical activity, overweight, diabetes, as well as pregnancy and pregnancy support. The idea of an Internet-based health assistant was generally accepted by all participants of the evaluation study, as long as it would be incorporated in existing appliances, such as smartphones. The bilingual nature of the assistant was welcomed especially by first generation migrants, but migrant participants also indicated that not all health information needed to be made available in a culture-specific way. The participants were least satisfied with the nutrition component, which they felt should include recipes and ingredients from the culture of origin, as well as specific aspects of food preparation