Underserved groups2 About 20% of adults in America speaks another language apart from English at home (Karliner, Pérez-Stable, & Gregorich, 2017). This poses a great difficulty in the health sector since they face disparities that are not faced by English-speaking persons. Some of the problems that are seen in the health sector due to the Limited English Profency (LEP) are reduced health status, reduced chances of having basic healthcare, decreased rate of prevention of diseases and infections,higherchancesof usingdiagnosedtests, riskof complicationsofdrugs,low satisfaction of patients, poor health outcomes, reduced follow up visits, low quality care, and lack of effective communication between patients and healthcare providers, therefore, affecting the understanding of medication (Killian, Fisher, & Muir, 2015). People with LEP are usually taken advantage of by their employers since they are unable to communicate efficiently and fight for their rights. They are often paid low wages that cannot satisfy them and their families. These people often have a hard time understanding instructions being given and also take more time during training. These challenges affect their overall occupational performance, and they are unable to reap maximumly from the seminars and training thus productivity goes down. Due to this fact, they easily lose their jobs since their employers are unable to sustain them as they are assumed to be doing nothing. They later become jobless and financially unstable. With time, people with LEP, together with the underserved group, can learn. They should, therefore, be given learning opportunities for them to understand everything fully. They should also be treated equaly for them to fit in different occupations easily and without discrimination from anyone and that way, people can live together in harmony.
Underserved groups3 References Karliner,L.S., Pérez-Stable,E.J., & Gregorich,S.E. (2017). Convenient Access to Professional Interpreters in the Hospital Decreases Readmission Rates and Estimated Hospital Expenditures for Patients With Limited English Proficiency.Medical Care,55(3), 199-206. doi:10.1097/mlr.0000000000000643 Killian,C., Fisher,G., & Muir,S. (2015). Primary Care: A New Context for the Scholarship of Practice Model.Occupational Therapy In Health Care,29(4), 383-396. doi:10.3109/07380577.2015.1050713