Language Barriers

I am currently on my musculoskeletal placement and was treating a patient who only spoke and understood limited English. He was an outpatient being treated for subacromial impingement. When he came to his appointments his wife was always with him to help with translating. At first I wasn’t sure if I should speak directly to him or if I should be speaking to his wife as she was the one that was translating to him and telling me his answers. However I also thought he could be offended if I was speaking more to his wife then him as he was my patient and therefore I was assessing and treating him. I decided it would be best to speak directly to him as he did understand and speak some English and if I needed anything his wife said to me clarified then I would speak more directly to her. When I used this strategy in my assessment and treatment of this patient he seemed to appreciate that I was talking to him rather then just about him to his wife. In the future with other patients with language barriers I will try to speak directly to them rather then talking about them through the translator as it is important that even though they may not be able to understand me fully they are still the patient and therefore should be spoken to directly.