Consumer Health Minute: Health Information in Multiple Languages

Posted by Carolyn Martin on October 18th, 2024 Posted in: Consumer Health, Health Equity
Tags: health information, multiple languages, Spanish

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Spanish is the second most spoken language in the United States*. This is not surprising considering that the latest census reports that the Hispanic and Latino population is the largest racial and ethnic minority group.

When providing health information, it is important to consider providing the information in the preferred language of your patron or client or patient. That isn’t always easy. Health information changes frequently and making it available in multiple languages in plain language makes it even harder.

What health information resources are available in languages other than English? Here are some resources to use.

MedlinePlus

• MedlinePlus in Spanish
• Information available in additional languages in MedlinePlus, browse resources by either health topic or language

National Institutes of Health (NIH)

• Health information in Spanish
• Visit the individual institutes for health information in additional languages such as
  • National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (Spanish and Asian languages)
• NIH Resources in Asian and Pacific Island Languages

Also check out:

• EthnoMed, go to “Clinical Topics for Patients” and filter by language
• Health Information Translations, search by language or health topic

For more resources, check the NNLM Public Libraries Guide.

* Nearly 68 Million People Spoke a Language Other Than English at Home in 2019