Despite language barriers and other difficulties, many international organizations are sending volunteers to help care for the growing number of migrants coming to the EU. But how effectively can healthcare workers provide medical care to those in need under such challenging conditions, especially when there aren’t interpreting services available?
More than one million migrants arrived in Europe in 2015 alone. The majority of people seeking asylum via a route in the Eastern Mediterranean are from countries torn by active conflicts, such as Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan. Considered one of the biggest mass migrations since WWII, host countries are extremely overwhelmed by the large number of people attempting to cross borders. Separating those who can from those who cannot be resettled, overcoming cultural and language barriers, and ensuring the safety and health of all of these individuals is extremely challenging.
Healthcare Limitations
EU countries and various other organizations provide medical assistance to refugees along some routes, but there are many obstacles. Once within a host country, migrants face restrictions from the local healthcare system, and can only access it after they have been registered. Even after migrants receive access to medical resources, providing primary healthcare, alternative medical services for less threatening diseases and even medication for chronic diseases continues to be a difficulty for most volunteer doctors. Even more limitations are created by the lack of medical interpreting services.
Healthcare Industry and Language Barriers
Many of the volunteer doctors, including those that come through organizations like Doctors Without Borders, have to deal with limited patient communication due to multiple language barriers. There is a severe lack of professional interpreting services, including medical translation and healthcare translation, to assist both volunteers and refugees. Without qualified medical interpreters, doctors struggle to effectively provide treatment for patients.
The majority of migrants speak Arabic, but providing Arabic medical translation can be difficult as there are many different dialects depending on the country of origin. Confirming which country patients are from and what dialect they speak makes providing medical care that much more challenging for hospitals without qualified Arabic interpreters. Healthcare workers also have the added challenge of addressing local cultural and political differences.
Healthcare | Host Countries Speak a Different Language
Differences between the languages of a host country and those of the volunteers and migrants also pose linguistic challenges. In order to communicate with the local officials, medical staff, and the local residents, healthcare workers must interact with German, French, English, Greek, Italian, and Turkish speakers, just to name a few. The lack of interpreting services can inhibit the daily life of volunteers who do not speak the same language as their host country. At every step, communication barriers play a large role.
Learning the Language
Some countries are attempting to hold classes for resettled migrants to help them learn the linguistic and cultural norms of their new homeland, thereby reducing their need for future oral translation services. But for those who are not settled, this is not an option. Migrants who have the advantage of being able to communicate in English tend to fare better, while those less fortunate must struggle to find another way to communicate in the absence of interpreters.
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