Patient Education Materials for Non-English Speakers

Recently, the Vasculitis Foundation, in collaboration with a group of physicians and vasculitis investigators in the U.S. and Latin America (i.e., Mexico, Colombia, Peru, Chile and Argentina), launched an educational series of videos in Spanish called, Aprendiendo de Vasculitis.

“The goal of these videos is to provide education to all Spanish-speaking patients,” explains Sebastian E. Sattui, MD, MS, an assistant professor of medicine and director of the UPMC Vasculitis Center at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.

This initial video series includes the following topics:

• What is vasculitis?
• Creating your medical team;
• Glucocorticoids;
• Medications used for the treatment of vasculitis;
• What is remission?
• Dealing with damage caused by vasculitis and complications from treatment; and
• Patient’s perspective of living with vasculitis.
  
  

  Dr. Sattui

“The goal was to cover basic topics that are relevant to the care of patients living with vasculitis, understanding that most patient-directed information is in English,” Dr. Sattui says. The videos are available in the patient education section of the Vasculitis Foundation, as well as on YouTube.

“Dissemination of these videos and materials has been done through all social media channels of the Vasculitis Foundation; local patient organizations in South America, with special support from Vasculitis Chile; and the Pan American League of Rheumatology Associations (PANLAR),” Dr. Sattui says.

The Vasculitis Foundation is also translating its vasculitis disease-specific brochures into Spanish.

Local organizations in Latin America and Spain also have activities to provide information to patients, but most of these organizations tend to point their patients to the resources at the Vasculitis Foundation because it is “one of the largest and most established patient organizations for people living with vasculitis,” Dr. Sattui says.

“Previous efforts have been primarily focused on specific sessions or webinars by existing patient groups. The goal of this series is to create patient friendly resources that will permanently be accessible to all patients,” he adds.

Other Sources

Other reputable sources for patient education videos and materials in languages other than English include the ACR, the Lupus Foundation of America and the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS). Print materials on the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of a range of health conditions related to arthritis, musculoskeletal, and skin diseases are available through NIAMS in English, Spanish, Chinese, Korean and Vietnamese. NIAMS also provides social media resources aimed at helping people take steps to improve their health.