THUNDER BAY – Conversations with a doctor can be difficult to understand even when you’re speaking the same language.
Those difficulties are exponentially increased when either the doctor or patient is speaking a different tongue.
That can be the case for the close to 135,000 members of Northern Ontario’s francophone population when they need medical treatment.
To aid in bridging the communication gap, Le Reseau du mieux-etre francophone du Nord de l’Ontario (RMEFNO) unveiled a new video project demonstrating how health-care providers across the region can actively offer assistance to patients in both of the country’s official languages.
Manitouwadge General Hospital chief executive officer Jocelyn Bourgoin says he has seen instances in his career where the inability to comprehend the language on either side has had an impact.
“Even in my 30 years in health care I’ve seen so many times when the language barriers actually had an impact on outcomes where somebody thought they heard something or said something a certain way,” Bourgoin said.
“It’s something we have to be vigilant and we can never let our guard down to make sure we always improve that.”
Bourgoin estimates that between 10 to 15 per cent of the hospital’s patients are francophone, along with a significant percentage that speak languages other than English or French.
Manitouwadge has taken steps such as introducing name badges for staff that identify other languages spoken as well as placing an emphasis on seeking bilingual employees.
Any difficulties are not due to an unwillingness from the staff to provide optimal care, they just often don’t know how to best communicate.
“A lot of our employees wish they could or want to but they don’t appreciate how critical it is and how it can actually impact health care,” Bourgoin said.
Diane Quintas, executive director of the RMEFNO, says it’s important for providers to clearly demonstrate services are offered in French as well as having procedures in place to ensure they get the best care.
Even if a francophone patient has the ability to speak English, things can often get lost in translation when they are under pressure.
“The reality is that when people are not feeling well, are vulnerable and stressed and are in a situation where they are unfamiliar they often lose their second language,” Quintas said. “It’s really important health-care providers recognize that.”
Quintas added quite often staff who can speak French as a second language are self-conscious about their accent or grammar and will decline to identify that ability. To most patients that doesn’t matter, they’ll appreciate the clear communication.
The video, which will be available to providers across the region, show enacted scenarios where the effects of the language barrier are evident.
Quintas says most organizations across the region are doing their best to improve access to French health services but there is still a long way to go.
