Experiences of language barriers by homoeopathy student interns providing health services at the University of Johannesburg

Abstract

Background: South Africa is a multilingual society, and therefore, the likelihood of healthcare providers (HCPs), including students training to be HCPs, encountering language barriers with patients is high.Aim: To explore and describe the experiences of homoeopathy student interns regarding language barriers in the delivery of health services and to provide guidance towards overcoming language barriers in homoeopathic practice at the University of Johannesburg (UJ).Setting: The interviews and focus group discussions were conducted in English and at a private location that was convenient for the participants in Johannesburg, Gauteng.Methods: This qualitative study used a phenomenological approach. Ten individual interviews were conducted with registered homoeopathy student interns (HSIs) from the UJ. The central question: ‘What has your experience been regarding language barriers between you and your patients at the UJ Homoeopathy clinics?’ was asked and responses were recorded and transcribed for later analysis. The interview results were presented to a focus group for discussion to validate findings that arose from the analysis and to provide an opportunity to add any insight, comment or recommendations that were not expressed in individual interviews and verification of emergent themes.Results: Participants described how language barriers create challenges in understanding between patients and HSIs. Descriptions of the experiences of the intrapersonal and interpersonal effects that are associated with language barriers were provided. Participants also described the influence of language barriers on the various aspects of the health service process. Finally, participants described the mitigation of language barriers through various strategies.Conclusion: Participants reported their experiences of language barriers as challenging. Language barriers were found to adversely affect the various aspects of the health service process as well as the practitioner’s personal feelings and the patient–practitioner relationship. Language acquisition and awareness modules introduced early on in the syllabus is a proposed solution to the mitigation of language barriers.

Nursing students' experiences of communication in a multilingual and multicultural clinical environment: A qualitative study

“…Participants mentioned that some patients do not understand English, which causes a challenging language barrier between students, nurses and patients. Blackwell et al ( 2021 ) reported that language barriers can affect various elements of healthcare, as can a nurse's personal feelings and their relationship with their patient. These findings are consistent with Quan ( 2011 ), who discovered that communication barriers can make it challenging for nurses to connect with people from different cultures or those who speak different languages.…”

“…Indeed, focusing on the experiences of nursing students in multilingual and multicultural clinical environments has revealed that language barriers in those environments are seen as hindrances to nursing students achieving their optimal clinical learning outcomes. Yet research has shown that multilingual clinical environments will become even more common in the future (Blackwell et al, 2021 ). Nursing students' language skills are thus a critical factor, particularly for those learning in a non‐native language.…”

“…Yet research has shown that multilingual clinical environments will become even more common in the future (Blackwell et al, 2021).…”

Communication barriers to education to referrals from the perspective of referrals to health centers and health care providers

“…And negatively affects various aspects of the health care process and effective communication. 29 In a study conducted in Saudi, linguistic and cultural differences between nurses and patients were considered as effective barriers to communication. 30 Many studies have considered language barriers as effective communication barriers.…”