Welcome to pictomed
PICTOMED is a web-based, non-verbal, visual communication tool to overcome language barriers in doctor-patient communication.
PICTOMED enables healthcare providers and patients who do not share a common language to communicate with ease, simply by pointing to pictures. We provide around 300 illustrations of medical symptoms.
PICTOMED’s visual communication tool has been mainly developed to help marginalised patients with language barriers due to migration background to get medical attention.
PICTOMED enables healthcare providers and patients who do not share a common language to communicate with ease, simply by pointing to pictures. We provide around 300 illustrations of medical symptoms.
PICTOMED’s visual communication tool has been mainly developed to help marginalised patients with language barriers due to migration background to get medical attention.
Background
The necessity and right to interpretation is internationally recognised (WHO) in the healthcare setting for patients who are not or not sufficiently able to express themselves or understand the medical terms in a given local language. Moreover, a high level of language knowledge (proficiency level) is required for a successful doctor-patient communication.
From an ethical and legal point of view, interpretation by minors, family members or acquaintances are not acceptable. It goes without further explanation, that the doctor-patient communication is confidential, touches intimate and private aspects and that patients will not communicate openly - for feelings of shame or out of consideration - in the presence of family members and acquaintances. Moreover, it breaches the patient’s dignity and autonomy. Furthermore, medical doctors are rarely able to verify the interpretation services (be it its content or quality). Especially children mostly do not have sufficient language proficiency (in either language) to act as interpreters.
From an ethical and legal point of view, interpretation by minors, family members or acquaintances are not acceptable. It goes without further explanation, that the doctor-patient communication is confidential, touches intimate and private aspects and that patients will not communicate openly - for feelings of shame or out of consideration - in the presence of family members and acquaintances. Moreover, it breaches the patient’s dignity and autonomy. Furthermore, medical doctors are rarely able to verify the interpretation services (be it its content or quality). Especially children mostly do not have sufficient language proficiency (in either language) to act as interpreters.
healthcare beyond language barriers
The doctor-patient communication is most important for the success of diagnostic as well as therapeutic endeavours. To skip the doctor-patient communication out of stress is to deny the patient’s needs and rights.
Communication must not fail due to language barriers.
Communication is indeed the key to success by building up trust, improving the medical encounter experience, heightening the retention of critical information and enhancing performance.
Communication must not fail due to language barriers.
Communication is indeed the key to success by building up trust, improving the medical encounter experience, heightening the retention of critical information and enhancing performance.
Pictures speak louder than words
First Let'sDiscover
PICTOMED enables direct communication between medical doctors and patients, and not as usual by means of a third party.
The advantage over language-specific offers is our wide range of application through independence of language and alphabet. After identification of patients in need of language assistance, the healthcare provider can either choose to take a history through buttons of a body map or to search only specific symptoms in a supportive manner. PICTOMED should not be used by patients themselves, but it should be applied by a medical doctor (or specially trained nurses in emergency departments or first responders in ambulances) together with the patient.
This communication tool does not focus on health staff providing nursing or administrational services. PICTOMED is designed to take a history of the present illness and optional a review of systems. However, it is very difficult to take a history of chronic illnesses or a complicated past medical history by means of the website-app, especially if a verbal communication with the patient is altogether impossible. A successful outcome depends on your as well as your patient’s willingness, commitment, and ability to communicate, to a lesser extent some ability of abstraction is required from the patient. |
IT'S UP TO USOur goal
We hope that PICTOMED will be a small contribution…
to foster universal access to health, migrant empowerment, humanitarian relief, solidarity and to passionately advocate of inclusion and rights for migrant and refugee populations. PICTOMED does not want to replace professional interpretation services at all, but to engage healthcare providers further in the dialogue, incite constructive discussions about interpreter use and encourage political processes and positions in favour of health equity and the refugee cause (e.g. assumption of costs for interpreter services by assurances).
Research
Publication in a Swiss Public Health Journal "Schweizerische Ärztezeitung" (German)
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