Profiles in Practice

The Love of Language

“Koman ou ye,” or, “Hola, coma esta,” are the typical greetings you'll hear from Marly Anelsme, LPN, and Guerly Laroche, RN. Both work at Brookside Community Health Center (BCHC), where 80 percent of the patients are Spanish-speaking and nearly half speak no English at all. So the English “Hello, how are you?” greeting is not commonly uttered by either women during the course of a work day.

Who better to connect with the predominantly Spanish speaking clientele and a growing number of Haitian patients than Anelsme, Laroche, and their colleagues at BCHC.

“At Brookside, it is nearly a prerequisite to speak at least Spanish,” said Beth Scanlan, RNC, NP, nurse manager, who hired both Laroche and Anelsme and has been pleased with both women's ability to connect with patients. “It's important for our staff to reflect our patient population,” Scanlan added.

Anelsme was born in Haiti, but moved to Africa when she was very young. She grew up speaking French, Creole and an assortment of African languages. “I think I have an aptitude for learning languages,” said Anelsme, who has lived in the United States for 20 years. Anelsme is responsible for having the first conversation with BCHC's patients to screen their symptoms, check their vital signs and assess their condition prior to seeing a physician.

“Most patients take comfort in me speaking their language. It adds a sense of security, which is helpful in a health care setting,” said Anelsme, who explained some patients ask for her by name upon their arrival, as they want to feel that connection the moment they arrive for their visit.

“I love languages,” echoed Laroche, who moved to the United States from Haiti 16 years ago. Besides English, Laroche speaks Spanish, French and Creole. She often uses a combination of them all when speaking to various coworkers, patients and her family at home.

“Patients' body language relaxes when I transition my speech into their language,” said LaRoche, who mainly handles phone triage as patients call for an appointment, coordinates clinic sessions and assists with patient education and appointment follow-ups.

Both Anelsme and Laroche, say their rapport with patients goes beyond language. “We are familiar with our patients' cultures,” said Laroche, who pinpointed that this is helpful in discussing treatment plans, communicating diagnoses and other services required as she and Anelsme act as patient advocates. Both are often asked to assist other caregivers with translation if particular patients have an accent or dialect that is particularly difficult to decipher.

As BCHC's patient volume exceeded 10,000 in 2004, Scanlan and Executive Director Paula McNichols continually work to recruit a diverse staff to meet patients' needs. Aside from Anelsme and Laroche, physicians, nurses and other caregivers represent the languages and backgrounds of Mexican-American, Hispanic, Puerto Rican, Brazilian and Dominican cultures.

BCHC's sensitivity to patients' cultures is also shared by BWH's Southern Jamaica Plain Health Center, where many staff members are fluent in Spanish and other languages. Multilingual staff make both centers well poised to effectively communicate to their diverse patient populations.