Spanish Translation and Cultural Adaptations of Physical Therapy Parent Educational Materials for Use in Neonatal Intensive Care

Abstract

Background

A paucity of Spanish language, culturally relevant parent education materials in the healthcare setting results in suboptimal care for Latinx families and further perpetuates health disparities. The purpose of this article is to describe the process for Spanish translation and cultural adaptations to parent education materials of a parent-centered physical therapy program designed to support maternal mental health and infant development during Neonatal Intensive Care (NICU).

Methods

Two bilingual physical therapy (PT) students translated educational materials from English to Spanish and were proofread by a professional translator. Next, we conducted a materials review with 5 members of the Latine Community Review Board (CRB), a “standing” advisory group of natively Spanish-speaking, Latine North Carolinians who contract with research teams under the coordination of the Inclusive Science Program (ISP) of the North Carolina Translational and Clinical Sciences Institute (NC TraCS). Review session recruitment, facilitation, and data analysis were conducted by bilingual NC TraCS project managers and the primary investigator for the main feasibility study. Readability analyses were performed at the final stage of translation and adaptation.

Results

Themes from CRB review sessions for improvement included to 1) use parent-friendly language, 2) use the plural masculine form of gendered language for caregivers to include all gender identities in this neonatal context, 3) address challenges with direct translation, and 4) use written education materials to supplement in-person, hands-on training with parents and their infants. All translated materials received a grade level of 5 on the Crawford grade-level index.

Conclusion

Based on CRB feedback and readability analysis, the translation and cultural-adaptation process resulted in comprehensible written parent education materials for Spanish-speaking families. Review meetings with the CRB reinforced the need for Spanish materials in the healthcare setting. Further assessment of these materials with Spanish-speaking families in the NICU setting is needed.

Keywords:

• patient education
• Spanish
• translation
• cultural adaptation
• neonatal intensive care
• parents

Data Sharing Statement

Data from review meetings are available on request from the authors.

Acknowledgments

The project described was supported by the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS), National Institutes of Health, through Grant Award Numbers UL1TR002489 and UM1TR004406. The primary study was funded by National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, National Institutes of Health, under Grant KL2TR002490. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the NIH.

Disclosure

The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work.