Visualizations to Improve Pain Communication Between Patients, Interpreters, and Providers

The pain InfoViz tool is a two-page paper tool that consists of an explanation of how to use the tool in both Hmong and English, a culturally-appropriate Faces pain severity scale, pain body diagram, and 13 pain qualities in the form of icons representing each pain quality metaphor. The interpreter explains the instructions in Hmong, then marks the body areas corresponding to the location of pain reported by the participant, and marks the pain qualities expressed by the metaphors selected by the Hmong patient. In the clinic appointment, the interpreter communicates to the physician, in English, the pain location and qualities identified by the participant, using the medical terms identified on the InfoViz tool.