gms | German Medical Science

Background and status of (inter)national research: Providing healthcare to patients with limited local language proficiency poses challenges to those seeking help and the attending healthcare professionals alike. Recent migrants tend to make less use of preventive services, including immunization, than the population without a migrant background. In the COVID-19 pandemic, reaching all people with SARS-CoV-2 vaccination is key to success. According to the doctrine of informed consent, the person to be vaccinated or the legal guardian has to be informed in an understandable way about the benefits and potential risks of vaccination and give consent.

Research question and objective: We developed, released and tested an app that eases communication with persons with limited German-language proficiency and allows to give legally compliant information on SARS-CoV-2 vaccination.

Method or hypothesis: We created the app’s content and functions within an agile discursive process involving staff from vaccination sites as potential users, guidelines and literature searches and field trials at vaccination centers. Contents were approved by the Robert Koch Institute, languages chosen with the German Federal Ministry of Health.In a real-world pilot test, we assessed the app’s usability.

Results: The app comprises 500 phrases that can be played back or displayed as text in 39 languages. It enables health care providers to guide vaccination candidates through the vaccination process, convey legally compliant information about the risks and benefits of SARS-CoV-2 vaccination, ask respective relevant questions, and obtain informed consent. The app’s use can be adapted to individual information needs. The communication process can be documented.

The app proved its usability in the observed encounters with foreign-language speakers.

Discussion: Our development approach proved suitable for adapting to dynamic pandemic conditions and changing recommendations.

By improving communication, the app can enhance vaccination uptake among foreign-language speakers, increase vaccination safety and result in a positive vaccination experience.

As the 39 languages can be operating and output language, the use of the app is in principle not limited to Germany. Yet, it supported only vaccines approved by the European Medical Agency (EMA) in 2021 and recommendations of the German Standing Commission on Vaccination.

Practical implications: At the time of the submission deadline, it has become apparent that the Russian invasion of Ukraine will have immense and lasting implications not only for politics and economics but also for the provision of health care to a rapidly growing number refugees in Europe. It will be necessary to inform persons with no or very limited proficiency of the local languages about SARS-CoV-2 vaccinations and other vaccinations, e.g. against measles, alike. If interpreting resources are limited, digital tools offer great potential for overcoming language barriers.

Appeal for practice (science and/or care) in one sentence: We live in a society with a growing linguistic diversity – language discordance between patients and healthcare providers should not be a barrier to equitable health care provision.

Funding: Sonstige Förderung; gefördert vom Bundesministerium für Gesundheit (BMG) mit einer Zuwendung im Bereich des Bundesministeriums für Gesundheit aus Kapitel 1503 Titel 53105 im Haushaltsjahr 2021