October 9, 1998

To assist non-English-speaking patients in communicating with hospital staff, booklets entitled "English in the Hospital" now are available in the MGH General Store for $1 each. The manual allows patients to look up words or phrases commonly used in a hospital setting to find accurate translations. If necessary, a patient can simply point to the appropriate phrase to communicate with caregivers.

The booklets are available in Arabic, Chinese, Creole, Farsi, French, German, Greek, Hebrew, Italian, Japanese, Khmer, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish and Vietnamese. Developed by Jean Swaim of the Ladies Visiting Committee with the help of MGH caregivers, the booklets currently are on display in the glass cases along the Main Corridor.

For more information, call Interpreter Services at 6-6966.