ROLE PLAYING INSTRUCTIONS FOR HEALTH LITERACY LEARNING
ACTIVITY
NURSE ROLE
You are the nurse in an emergency department. You speak a version of English that only has words that start with letters in the first half of the alphabet: A – M.
Your patient speaks a version of English that only has words that start with letters in the last half of the alphabet: N- Z.
As a nurse, your job is to exchange the following information with the patient, using only words that start with the letters in the first half of the alphabet: A B C D E F G H I J K L
M
1.
What is the patient’s problem?
2.
What are the patient’s symptoms?
3.
When did the symptoms start?
4.
Where is the pain? Describe the pain. How severe?
5.
Explain to the patient that you will need to order some blood tests to see if there is an infection and some x-rays which require the patient to drink a big container of fluid with special dye in it. You suspect appendicitis (though the diarrhea is somewhat unusual).
Example in American English: “Have you taken any medication for the pain?”
Example in your language: “Drunk, eaten medication for discomfort?”
PATIENT ROLE
You are a patient who has come to the emergency department with severe abdominal pain. You speak a version of English that only has words that start with letters in the last half of the alphabet: N-Z.
Your nurse speaks a version of English that only has words that start with letters in the first half of the alphabet: A – M.
As a patient, you are trying to explain your symptoms using only words that start with the letters in the last half of the alphabet: N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
Example in American English: “Have you taken any medication for the pain?”
Example in your language: “Drunk, eaten medication for discomfort?”
Reference: The Shoes of a Limited Language Speaker. Linda Okahara, Asian Health
Services