The Cancer Center recently completed a large undertaking that has translated—literally—into a set of entirely new patient education packets available for Spanish-speaking cancer patients. The translation project was an initiative that came out of the Cancer Center’s Quality Improvement Team. The new education packets contain important information on radiation therapy, its side effects, and social support services.

Radiation oncology nurse, Paula Mazzara, spearheaded the project because the volume of Spanish-speaking patients who do not understand information related to their treatment is large. “I just knew we had to do more for these people,” she said.

With the help of physicist, Letty Morrissey, and radiation therapist, Euguena Marquez, both fluent in Spanish, the two translated a total of 16 documents. “I’ve worked in many other places, and I have never seen translation done this extensively,” Letty shared.

Paula said the Spanish patient education packets are critical to the patient care process because patients are no longer in the dark about what is going on. “It’s a big accomplishment,” said Paula, “but it’s still a work in progress.”