Jenny Ruiz (left), Alejandra Curbelo-Paz (middle), Elizabeth Contreras (right)
By Megumi Barclay
A University of Pittsburgh team recently won first place for their poster presentation at the 2024 Medical Organization of Latino Advancement-National Association of Medical Spanish (MOLA-NAMS) Conference. The two-day multidisciplinary education and research conference, focused on Hispanic/Latino health and medical Spanish, was held on October 25-26 at the University of Illinois, Chicago. This year’s theme was “The Healing Power of our Roots.”
Jenny Ruiz, assistant professor of pediatrics, School of Medicine; second-year medical student Alejandra Curbelo-Paz; and Elizabeth Contreras, instructor of Spanish, University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg, presented their study “Spanish-speaking caregivers of children diagnosed with cancer and communication experiences with the medical team,” which highlighted significant communication barriers experienced by Spanish-speaking caregivers and proposed ways to improve language access in health care.
Their research used semistructured interviews to capture the experiences of Spanish-speaking caregivers at the time of a cancer diagnosis. “We did a work-in-progress poster presentation on a qualitative study focused on the communication experiences of Spanish-speaking caregivers of children with cancer,” Ruiz says.
The study found that even during sensitive discussions about cancer diagnoses, family members were often asked to act as ad-hoc interpreters. She noted that identifying these caregivers was challenging due to historical underreporting of language preferences in medical records, though recent years have seen efforts to address this gap.
“Unfortunately, family members are still being used as ad-hoc interpreters even in the setting of disclosing a cancer diagnosis,” says Ruiz.
Caregivers recommended increasing the presence of bilingual clinicians or, at a minimum, professional in-person interpreters to support more comprehensive conversations around diagnosis and treatment planning.
Ruiz led the research effort with support from a dedicated mentorship team, including fellow Pitt School of Medicine faculty members Judy Chang, Monica Baskin, Amy Houtrow, and Scott Maurer. Recognizing the challenges posed by Western Pennsylvania’s relatively low Spanish-speaking population, she collaborated with Sonia Morales, a pediatric oncologist at the University of California, Irvine.
Curbelo-Paz researched and copresented at the conference alongside Ruiz. She describes working with Ruiz as transformative, shaping her interest in health care equity. “Her passion, expertise and supportive nature made it clear that I would learn a lot from her guidance,” Curbelo-Paz says.
Working on this project has influenced Curbelo-Paz’s perspective on health care and strengthened her dedication to addressing language barriers. She hopes to continue focusing on language access and health equity, carrying that commitment into her residency and future career.
Ruiz expressed appreciation for the project’s support from the Hillman Fellows for Innovative Cancer Research Program and UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh: “We are extremely grateful for the Hillman Fellows for Innovative Cancer Research Program funded by the Henry L. Hillman Foundation and the UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh Diversity Equity and Inclusion Medical Student Health Equity Award, both of which supported Alejandra and funded this project,” she says. “We are also grateful for the caregivers and families that shared their stories with us.”
After winning first-place poster presentation, Ruiz says she feels excited and remotivated to continue researching ways to provide the best care and outcomes for Spanish-speaking caregivers and children with cancer.
Pictures provided by Jenny Ruiz and Alejandra Curbelo-Paz