SHM Converge Scientific Abstract ePoster Gallery-Spanish-Speaking Caregiver Perspectives on Patient Portal Use

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This document summarizes a qualitative study on Spanish-speaking caregivers of children with chronic conditions and their use of patient portals, with a focus on equitable digital health access.<br /><br />The study aimed to:<br />1. Explore caregivers’ perspectives on the benefits of patient portals.<br />2. Identify barriers and facilitators to portal use.<br />3. Suggest strategies to improve portal usability from caregivers’ perspectives.<br /><br />Using semi-structured interviews with 20 Spanish-speaking caregivers, investigators found several key themes:<br /><br />- Patient portals help caregivers understand their child’s health by giving access to appointments, medications, and test results.<br />- Portals empower caregivers to participate more actively in healthcare conversations and decision-making.<br />- Healthcare professionals are important in teaching caregivers how to use portal features.<br />- Structural barriers, including medical jargon and English-only content, limit effective use.<br />- Poor interface design makes it difficult to complete tasks such as messaging or downloading records.<br />- Caregivers strongly want portals available in their preferred language.<br /><br />The findings suggest that Spanish-speaking caregivers highly value patient portals but face unique challenges related to language, design, and technical support. Many caregivers had smartphone access and some digital literacy, yet still struggled with certain portal functions.<br /><br />The authors conclude that digital health tools should be designed with Spanish-speaking caregivers’ perspectives in mind to support more equitable care. They recommend involving stakeholders in portal design, improving language concordance, and training healthcare professionals to help families use these tools effectively.<br /><br />Overall, the study highlights that access alone is not enough; portals must also be understandable, usable, and culturally and linguistically accessible.

Asset Subtitle

Gabriel Tse

Meta Tag

Author List Bonnie Halpern-Felsher, Gabriel Tse, Jennifer Carlson, Katherine Hu, Michelle M. Kelly, Stephanie Squires

Category Research

Concept Hospital Discharge

Concept Hospital-to-Home Transition

Concept Patient Portal

Concept Caregiver Self-Management

Concept Discharge Information

Distinguished Non-Finalist

Presenter Organization Stanford University School of Medicine

Presenting Author Gabriel Tse

Track Pediatric

Keywords

Spanish-speaking caregivers

patient portals

equitable digital health

chronic conditions

language barriers

healthcare access

portal usability

medical jargon

digital literacy

caregiver empowerment

Hospital Discharge

Hospital-to-Home Transition

Patient Portal

Caregiver Self-Management

Discharge Information