Why Is This Important?

Having limited English proficiency can be a barrier to accessing health care services and understanding health information. Institutional barriers such as a lack of well-trained interpreters and culturally competent health care providers adversely affect the health of individuals with limited English proficiency. Quality of care is lowered when patients do not understand their health care providers, when patients and providers do not speak the same language, and when a provider's approach is not linguistically competent. Trained interpreters and bilingual health care providers improve patient satisfaction, quality of care, and health outcomes for individuals with limited English proficiency. [https://health.gov/healthypeople/priority-areas/social-determinants-health/literature-summaries/language-and-literacy ^1^]

Definition

Estimated percentage of persons over age 5 who speak English less than "very well"

Data Source

How the Measure is Calculated

How Do We Compare With the U.S.?

Compared to the U.S. as a whole, the population of New Jersey has a higher proportion of residents who speak English "less than very well."

Available Services

[https://libguides.njstatelib.org/NJResourcesforEnglishLanguageLearners/NJandUSGovernmentResources New Jersey Resources for English Language Learners]

More Resources

[https://wwwn.cdc.gov/pubs/other-languages?Sort=Lang%3A%3Aasc CDC Resources in Languages Other than English] U.S. Census Bureau, [https://data.census.gov/cedsci/ data.census.gov] U.S. Census Bureau, [https://data.census.gov/cedsci/profile?g=0400000US34, New Jersey Profile]

Health Program Information

NJDOH, [https://www.nj.gov/health/ommh/ Office of Minority and Multicultural Health]

Footnote References

1. [https://health.gov/healthypeople/priority-areas/social-determinants-health/literature-summaries/language-and-literacy Language and Literacy], Healthy People 2030.