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    Social Transformation

    (H-295) Harmony in Healthcare: Case Studies in Language-Dependent Healthcare Literacy Using Music as a Universal Medium

    Thursday, October 12, 2023
    2:00 PM – 3:00 PM PDT
    Location: Exhibit Hall - Row H - Poster # 295
    Introduction:: Following the uncertainty and discrepant media coverage of scientific policies during the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been a growing public distrust in science and healthcare (1). Current healthcare reports involve difficult-to-interpret interfaces and long pages of text, acting as a barrier to patient literacy and strong patient-to-healthcare professional relationships. Moreover, patients who are non fluent English speakers face greater health literacy hurdles (2), as verbal communication is often the key method of communication in healthcare spaces. Thus, in order to increase public discourse in healthcare in an accessible manner, a new medium of communication is proposed: music. Often coined the “universal language,” music has been linked to positive mental health outcomes in the clinic (3). Harmonic structures correlate to general categories of positive or negative emotion, and pose potential applications to aid patients in categorizing healthcare data in the face of language barriers. In this quantitative and qualitative study, we holistically evaluate the efficacy of music in aiding healthcare data interpretation for non fluent English speakers.

    Materials and Methods::

    Case studies involving an American-born, native English speaker were compared to a United States immigrant with limited English proficiency. In order to quantify patient understanding of healthcare reports, a mock patient report was created with simple measurements: heart rate, blood pressure, and blood oxygen levels. Participants were given a questionnaire regarding the mock patient’s health status (health or unhealthy) twice: first without musical aid, and second with. Musical aid was constructed through piano recordings of a C Major chord progression and a c minor chord progression, corresponding to healthy and unhealthy reports respectively. In the musically aided test portion, healthy reports were followed by major chords, while unhealthy reports were followed by minor chords. Experimental duplicates were performed, with each participant completing two mock tests. Test scores of each participant were indicators to the level of understanding of healthcare reports. Following each study, interviews were conducted in the participant’s native language for a holistic perspective, identifying the non-quantifiable socio-cultural impacts on health literacy. 



    Results, Conclusions, and Discussions::

    Preliminary results indicate both quantitatively and qualitatively in the potential of music to aid in overcoming the language barrier in health. Using the healthcare report scores as an evaluation of health literacy, Figure 1 demonstrates the impact of musical aid on helping individuals of limited English fluency to reach similar levels of fluent English speakers, with the non fluent participant’s score increasing by over 200 percent in the presence of musical aid. Further, music indicates benefits in healthcare literacy for fluent English speakers as well, denoted by the positive slope in both groups. Qualitative reports support such results, with participants of both English-proficiency levels speaking of the increased clarity in extrapolating healthcare data from the mock reports. The association of major chords with health and minor chords with a deviation from health were highlighted as helpful tools for categorization by the non English-fluent individual. While music demonstrates an overall improvement in healthcare literacy, Figure 2 highlights specific areas to target. Musical aid exhibits the highest impact for participants in deciphering heart rate reports regardless of English proficiency, as well as benefits for non fluent speakers in understanding blood oxygen reports. Surprisingly, music offers little to no impact on blood pressure measurements, which, upon case study interviews, was attributed to prior knowledge of blood pressure results, as well as the telltale two-number structure. Overall, music displays key potential in bridging the language barrier in healthcare as a universal medium of communication, paving the way for further studies at the intersection of socio-cultural themes and healthcare. Such implication can be used to inform the design of a robust, musically-oriented healthcare interface to equitably increase public discourse in healthcare. 



    Acknowledgements (Optional): : Internet Research Initiative at UCLA

    References (Optional): :


    1. Pollard MS, Davis LM. Decline in Trust in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention During the COVID-19 Pandemic. Rand Health Q. 2022 Jun 30;9(3):23. PMID: 35837520; PMCID: PMC9242572.




    2. Sentell T, Braun KL. Low health literacy, limited English proficiency, and health status in Asians, Latinos, and other racial/ethnic groups in California. J Health Commun. 2012;17 Suppl 3(Suppl 3):82-99. doi: 10.1080/10810730.2012.712621. PMID: 23030563; PMCID: PMC3552496.




    3. Foster B, Pearson S, Berends A, Mackinnon C. The Expanding Scope, Inclusivity, and Integration of Music in Healthcare: Recent Developments, Research Illustration, and Future Direction. Healthcare (Basel). 2021 Jan 19;9(1):99. doi: 10.3390/healthcare9010099. PMID: 33477908; PMCID: PMC7833393.