Why focus on language barriers in healthcare?
Language barriers can make it harder for children and youth to get the healthcare they need. When families and healthcare providers cannot communicate clearly, it can lead to misunderstandings, delays in diagnosis, and poorer health outcomes. Identifying and addressing these barriers is important to making sure all children and youth in Canada receive safe and fair care, no matter what language they speak.
Language can get in the way of care
Children and families who face language barriers can experience differences in the care they receive and their health outcomes.
Research shows that children whose caregivers prefer a language other than English are more likely to be given a lower priority for care in emergency departments, experience missed diagnoses, and wait longer for pain medication. They may also receive unnecessary treatments or face a higher risk of being admitted to intensive care or returning to the hospital. Families who face language barriers are also more likely to report problems accessing healthcare.
These differences highlight the need to better understand and address language barriers to help ensure all children and youth receive safe, timely, and appropriate care.
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Whose voices are missing from research?
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Children, youth, and families who face language barriers are often left out of research, including research designed to improve their healthcare. Research studies may exclude people who do not speak English, and opportunities to take part in research are often offered in only a few languages. As a result, the people most affected by language barriers may have fewer opportunities to help decide which research questions matter most. This means that research priorities may not fully reflect their needs and experiences.
Our project aims to address this gap by working with children, youth, families, healthcare professionals, and community representatives to identify research priorities together, in keeping with the principle of "Nothing About Us, Without Us."
Guiding the Future of Care
The resulting list will guide researchers, funders, and policymakers to focus on the priorities of those who speak languages other than English or French in Canada.