ADHA Access April 2012 : Page 23
speak exceedingly slow; or (3) “ Whether working abroad or in the staff member would combine an interesting variety of dramatic WKHRI¿FH�f;KDYLQJDQLQWHUSUHWHU facial expressions and hand mo-WRHQKDQFHFRPPXQLFDWLRQV tions to signify key points, such as ‘open wide,’ ‘spit,’ etc. None IRUQRQ (QJOLVKVSHDNLQJ of the methods were particularly SDWLHQWVFDQEHDQHIIHFWLYH successful. While I was ponder-DQGVXUSULVLQJO\UHZDUGLQJ ing which one of the aforemen-tioned methods to employ [on H[SHULHQFH´ my trip], I was informed that foreign [interpreters] would be available at the mission sites. The news brought both relief and wariness. Would the [interpreter] understand the information I was providing? Would they accurately relay instructions without errors or improvising?” To Reese’s relief, prior to WKH¿UVW¿HOGPLVVLRQ�f;WKHWHDP ZDVJLYHQDEULH¿QJRQZRUN -ing through [interpreters]. “The training lessened my anxiety and contributed to the success of the experience. The [interpret-A Vietnamese translator (third from ers] were easy to work with, left) interprets for Melissa Reese, helped relay questions and ease CDA, RDH, BSDH (fourth from left). patient fears, and allowed for the provision of valuable oral health education to a much underserved population,” she said. “It was a mutually gratifying experience, as they had the opportunity to help us help their people. Typically, by the end of each mission, the [interpreter] was well-versed in teaching oral health education, and I managed to broaden my foreign vocabulary with a few words LQ9LHWQDPHVHRU.KPHU:KHWKHUZRUNLQJDEURDGRULQWKHRI¿FH�f; having an interpreter to enhance communications for non-English speaking patients can be an effective and surprisingly rewarding experience.” Yvonne Work, RDH, BS, BA, traveled to Braila, Romania with Serving HIM (Health International Ministries), in 2009, 2006, 2005 and 2004—with four dentists and two hygienists among the 20 team members. “Each year seems to be more rewarding than the one before,” she said. Serving HIM has been going over to Braila since 1998, team-ing with the Holy Trinity Baptist Church, which owns a health and dental clinic. The clinic serves the local poor free of charge, including children from the orphanage the church runs. “These people suffer from a lifetime of oral neglect, with 95 percent of the adults never having a prophy in their lives. There was lots of periodontal disease, Dana Shaffer, RDH, BS, PHDHP (center) with translator Steven (second from right) and Flo, another dental hygienist on the mission. of course, and no anesthetic for the patients. Our cavitrons and suction saved the day! We came away realizing that the preventive “We would not have been able to get across our message without and periodontal cleanings we gave them might be the only ones they >WKHLQWHUSUHWHUV@´6KDIIHUVDLG%XWWKHUHZHUHGLI¿FXOWLHV³(VSH -get in their lives!” Work said. “Our interpreters were high school FLDOO\LQWKHEHJLQQLQJ�f;LWZDVSUREDEO\DOLWWOHPRUHGLI¿FXOWEHFDXVH seniors or college students who attended the church that invited it did slow you down. You had to say a sentence, then let them our team over there. They all spoke good English. As I would clean translate, and sometimes you’d lose your train of thought. We had a the patient’s teeth and give them dental hygiene education, the lot of visuals as well, which really helped, because as the week went [interpreter] would translate everything I had said to the patient. If on, we didn’t have to say quite as much; the interpreters kind of it had not been for the [interpreters], I would not have been able to knew how we were doing things.” educate the patients.” Dana Shaffer, RDH, BS, PHDHP, participated in a dental mission trip to Honduras in March 2010, which was organized by Central American Relief Efforts (CARE)—based in Lancaster, Penn. The vol-Working in Diverse Communities in the U.S. unteers provided screenings and oral hygiene education. There were seven dental hygienists, as well as a husband and wife who helped Michelle Panico, RDH, MA, partnered with Dignity Health, a with educating locals. A local dentist even performed extractions as KRVSLWDOV\VWHPLQ$UL]RQD�f;WRVHWXSDVFKRRO EDVHGDI¿OLDWHGSUDF -needed. The team worked through several interpreters: Stephanie, a tice preventive dental clinic. “We now have two clinic sites. One is local college student; Steven, 14, whose family hosted the volun-inside an elementary school and the other is on the grounds of an teers; and Marel, who served as the trip’s coordinator. elementary school in the community health clinic,” Panico explained. access APR 2012 23
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