Choosing Wisely 5 Questions translated into 32 languages

The importance of translations of the Choosing Wisely 5 Questions

Easily understandable information enables everyone access the healthcare they need.

“For people who are new arrivals in Australia, the health system often works differently to what they are used to,” says Elham Monsef, Program Coordinator for Multicultural Health at Brisbane South PHN.

“For example, we heard that newly arrived people often were reluctant to call an ambulance. They may not have known how to call one, didn’t know of available interpreting services, and may have been worried about costs.

“Sometimes people drove their loved ones to the hospital themselves, getting speeding tickets on the way,” she says.

Brisbane South PHN’s ‘Calling an Ambulance in Queensland’ initiative contains 10 videos in different languages that explain the process and what people can expect when they need to call an ambulance in Queensland. It highlights that people can ask for an interpreter and that the ambulance service is free in Queensland.

“It is important to have accessible and understandable information available that can empower people. We see translating the Choosing Wisely 5 Questions being very important to support the community access the healthcare they need,” says Ms Monsef.

Choosing the languages wisely

The Choosing Wisely 5 Questions were already available in English and 12 other languages.

Brisbane South PHN supports service providers to deliver care. They asked their network for the languages needed – not just the top 5 languages spoken. Sometimes small language communities with very low language and health literacy proficiency benefit the most. Sometimes the reading skills in a language community are low, and an audio translation is of most use.

French was one of the languages selected for translation. French, while not the first language of many people in Australia, is a common language of many new arrivals from African countries and is of value for a large number of small African language communities.

The Choosing Wisely 5 Questions are now available in English, Arabic, Burmese, Chinese Simplified, Chinese Traditional, Croatian, Farsi, Greek, Italian, Korean, Macedonian, Nepali, Spanish, Turkish, Vietnamese, Whadjuk Noongar Language, Amharic, Dari, Karen, Oromo, Tigrinya, Urdu, French, Hazaragi, Karenni, Karenni (translated audio), Kinyarwada, Kirundi, Pashto, Rohingya, Rohingya (translated audio), Somali, Swahili, Tamil and Thai.

Using the translated Choosing Wisely 5 Questions

The Choosing Wisely 5 Questions need to reach healthcare consumers and there are lots of ways that we are working together to promote these resources to consumers.

Brisbane South PHN promote the Choosing Wisely 5 Questions in various ways, including to primary health care workers, social service agencies and directly with health care consumers. Choosing Wisely is promoted at health literacy sessions held at TAFEs that target adult migrant english classes and community groups; via Refugee Health Network Queensland; and communicated directly to primary healthcare professionals to share with their patients – especially general practices who support refugee families.

The Choosing Wisely 5 Questions are a key consumer resource that empower people to take an active role in their health. The translations are available for everyone to use and have a direct impact on improving access for everyone to quality health care in Australia.