[MUSIC PLAYING] SPEAKER: In our next exercise in embracing complexity, we're going to talk about addressing complexities with people. As we discussed previously, you're going to have issues in working with people. And we're going to go through now some common issues that may be related to cases or contacts that you may encounter. We're not going to solve all of them, but let's just bring them up so you have some idea about the complexities that you may face in your job. So one issue could be that you're unable to speak with the case or the contact. That could be because they gave an invalid phone number, or maybe they've changed their phone number. You just can't reach them for whatever reason. Another issue could be that you can't reach a contact who's in quarantine. So they've been quarantined, but you're just not able to find them to follow up, for whatever reason. Language barriers are a common issue that you could face. Sometimes the case or the contact is a child. That's one issue that you'll have to address. And you'll need to find someone else that you can talk to, like the child's parent, when you're going to talk to them about isolation or quarantine. But that adds another layer of complexity. Sometimes the person that you're trying to reach, the case, for example, might be too sick to take a call or may be very sick on the call and because of that, unable to answer your questions. That could be a common issue. Another common issue could be that the case or even the contact you're trying to reach is deceased. Again, this is not an exhaustive list of the issues you'll find in your daily life as a contact tracer, but just to give you some examples of common ones. So again, we can't go through exactly how to solve each of these problems, but we can give you some advice on best practices for dealing with issues related to cases and contacts. Whenever possible, you should involve the person in the problem-solving process. So you need to engage them in thinking about how to solve whatever issue you're facing. As always, you should be an active listener and empathizing with them. And you should always put the full details of your conversation into your call notes. Again, you'll want to know and remember in the future what happened on the call, and someone else may also need to know these details. Whenever possible, you can use secondary sources of data. So for example, with permission, you could talk about their medical details with someone else in the family. This would be, for example, if someone is too sick to talk to you themselves. You could also try to find contact information from other available data that you may have. So let's say, for example, the phone number you have for the case doesn't seem to be valid. You might be able to go back to some of the medical records that you have or lab reports and see if there's another number that you might be able to try. But always remember that you need to follow your local protocol. And of course, escalate any issues to your supervisor if and when needed. Don't be afraid to do that. Let's talk about one specific issue that you may encounter, and that's communicating with someone who speaks another language. This could create a language barrier if the person does not speak English well. And individuals with language barriers or people who don't speak English well may be less likely to receive care or less likely to access care. They could be at increased risk of medical errors. They could receive reduced quality of care compared to others. And they may be less satisfied with their medical care. They could be more vulnerable than others during the pandemic. If the person you're talking to doesn't speak English well, then you should work with an interpreter. There are translation services like language lines. Or other contact tracers who speak their language may be available to help you. Make sure you agree on ground rules with both the case or the person being interviewed and the interpreter before the interview begins. So for example, you'd want to be sure that the interviewer is saying everything that you say and not just paraphrasing because that could hurt your rapport. You always should speak directly to the case whenever possible and ask for clarifications as you go when you're working with an interpreter. It's important to note that children should not be used as interpreters. Often, other family members may offer to translate during these conversations, but because you're talking about private information and you do want open, honest answers, it's best practice to use a translation service in these kinds of situations. Now let's talk about another problem or issue you could encounter, where the case or contact is deceased. So in this situation, you won't be able to talk to the case or the contact, clearly. But you should still try to use secondary sources of information to get the information you need. So the contact tracing effort will still be vital. Even if the case has died, for example, you still want to know who they had contact with so that you can find them and make sure they know they've been exposed and can quarantine. So if it's the case who has died, you could ask to speak to the next of kin or their close relative or associate to ask them that kind of information. For contacts who are deceased, you could try to identify if they had any COVID-related symptoms before they died. And you may want to alert your supervisor and follow your local protocol depending on what you learn. In these difficult situations, it will be particularly important to empathize with the person you're talking to. You should acknowledge their loss. You should understand that contact tracing is less important than the loss that they've suffered and be respectful of that. However, you should still communicate the benefit to society of contact tracing. Because although it's a very difficult time for the person that you're speaking with, getting information from them that will allow you to continue the contact tracing process is important to reduce the risk to other members of their community. [MUSIC PLAYING]
