How to Leverage Translation and Localization Services to Expand the Global Health Community

22nd August 2023

Health is a global issue. Some health issues can affect almost everyone across the world. For this reason, there is a need for collaborative efforts that raises an effective and efficient global health community. Such is a community with a capacity to liaise and provide solutions to various health issues regardless of the location of the said issues.

Given the diversity of the global community health community, translation and localization play an integral role in fostering collaborative efforts. The two exercises create a level playing field on which global health experts exchange ideas and information.

How do localization and translation improve and expand the global health community? The following are some of the ways:

Adaptation of Multimedia Content

Medical multimedia content seeks to increase patient literacy. It includes informative animations, instructional videos, and Infographics, among others. When translated, such content improves patient engagement.

In other words, translation and localization facilitate patients’ conviction, given that they see the need to consume specific medical interventions from a Private GP.

Notably, translation and localization make medical multimedia content consumable globally, regardless of its source. Not only does the translated content consumable by patients, but also by the medical experts to introduce any new medical ideas in their locations.

Translation of Clinical Outcome Assessments (COAs)

COAs come in handy during the approval of life sciences organizations. They refer to how patients feel after a clinical trial. Notably, translation and localization help capture the patients’ feelings toward COAs accurately.

In other words, the two exercises help avoid additional content or deduction of views whenever a patient gives feedback on COAs. In return, such feedback complies with the local regulatory formatting.

Medical Interpretation

Translation and localization facilitate communication between medics and patients. The two exercises come in handy during diagnosing and treating LEP (limited English proficiency) patients.

In the absence of translation and localization, it can be hard for medics to provide healthcare services to LEP patients. In return, the efforts to create a world with healthy habitats can become hampered.

Given the said need for translation and localization in medical communication, it is absolute that the global health community cannot become more effective in its quest to create a healthy world without the two exercises. The lack of the two solutions can limit the provision of medical services to the people from the medics’ respective social backgrounds.

Provision of Telehealth

Effective provision of telehealth calls for the translation and localization of medical website content. Notably, telehealth played an integral role during the COVID-19 epidemic. Its success is partly because of localization and translation. The two exercises made it possible for patients from all corners of the world to improve their understanding of their health.

Translation and localization of telehealth platforms also make it possible for patients to make informed decisions. The two exercises present understandable information that patients consume easily. In other words, translation and localization facilitate patients’ conviction, given that they see the need for consuming specific medical interventions.

Winning the hearts of the patients is a key achievement of the global health community. However, the conviction comes from the ability to consume medical information without working too hard to decode the message. Also, translation and localization enable the global health community to speak to patients using convincing nuances. In return, the level of conviction in patients’ hearts goes up.

Multilingual Training

Clinical and medical staff deem training as a fundamental global exercise. Periodically, regulatory policies and medical innovations keep on cropping up. As a result, the global health community has to undergo occasional training regardless of its diversity.

Sometimes, the medical realm applies homogeneity. This aspect calls for the global dissemination of medical information for the benefit of the entire world. In such an instance, translation and localization come in handy. The two exercises ensure that all global health community members benefit from any new medical information that comes up at any time.

Research and Development

In healthcare, research and development encompass several activities besides clinical trials. For this reason, there is a need to highlight that translation and localization go beyond their application in clinical trials.

Medical research does not know any regional or national boundaries. Medical researchers are everywhere in the world. However, they work in tandem. Their collaboration becomes seamless whenever they employ medical translation and localization services. Whenever they do so, they manage to share medical ideas and other insights that improve the global healthcare industry.

The working together of global medical researchers depicts that research outcomes from one global region can become useful to another region thousands of miles away. In return, the collaboration prevents research duplication, thus channeling healthcare resources to other novel ideas.

In the absence of translation and localization, medical research and development efforts can benefit only those directly related to the researchers. What can then happen to global regions with limited medical research and development resources? The answer is that the absence of translation and localization can create a global healthcare disparity.

Regulatory Compliance

Different words mean different things to different people. The same applies to the words used in regulatory policies and other compliance tools. If wrongly used, words can result in non-compliance and disapproval from local authorities.

How can the global health community improve organizational compliance? The answer lies in the use of translation and localization services. The two exercises facilitate using regionally- and nationally-acceptable words that uphold regional integrity.

Admittedly, every global country has several legal requirements that any international medical provider has to meet. However, language and contextual barriers can cause omission and other errors when preparing legal documents. The same can apply during the preparation of any medical content.

To avoid such oversight, the global health community should embrace translation and localization. The two exercises ensure that any medical content that a global health community member prepares for any global target region becomes acceptable.

Marketing

Almost all global healthcare communities operate in a manner that generates revenue in one way or another. For this reason, they need marketing content that sells. It is also important to note that some global healthcare communities have embraced internationalization. Such entities target the global audience for revenue generation.

Given the international nature of the global health community, the translation and localization of healthcare content is a must-to-do. These exercises make it possible for the global healthcare community to reach out to everyone in the world. Remember, healthcare is a basic necessity and, to some extent, a right of everyone worldwide.

The global health community must translate and localize its operational content to realize optimal revenue. It is by translating and localizing marketing content that the said community can manage to meet this objective. Failure to do so can compel the respective global healthcare communities to rely on their domestic markets.

Mode of Operation

The global health community should also leverage translation and localization in its mode of operation. This aspect encompasses branding and company culture, among other elements that have a direct effect on the financial and social well-being of the entities that form the global healthcare community.

Notably, the consumer’s decision-making requirements spill over the need for effective medical interventions. Several medical providers purport to offer effective interventions, but they offer the opposite. For this reason, patients always do their due diligence to confirm the integrity of medical providers.

Due diligence cuts across the global medical hemisphere. It encompasses peer review that medical experts do on various medical content.

It is the role of the global health community to present evidence that can support its contribution to healthcare. One way of doing so entails a presentation of the operating model in a language and context acceptable and understandable to the global audience. To meet this objective, translation and localization of such information come in handy.

When translated and localized, the operation model of each global health community member adds weight to the credibility of the healthcare services they provide. Such information becomes consumable at a national or state level, besides becoming consumable at a grass-root level.

Translation and Localization Strategies for the Global Healthcare

Now that we have discussed how the global healthcare community can leverage translation and localization services, which are some of the best strategies to apply? They are as follows:

Giving priority to Accuracy, Consistency, and Compliance

The global healthcare community does not have any room for compromised quality. For this reason, every member must prioritize accuracy, consistency, and compliance during any translation and localization process. For this reason, there is a need to vet medical translators for quality and integrity.

Getting Concerned Over Specialism

Professional medical translators are not a jack of all trades. For this reason, always go for a translator specializing in your target medical field. If you engage a general translator, the probability of getting compromised quality of the translated content is very high.

The Bottom Line

TW Languages, a language service provider (LSP), believes that the global health community has much to reap from translation and localization services. As a member of this community, you now know how to expand your offerings using the said services. Have your healthcare content translated and localized today!