How Healthcare Professionals’ Communication Style Influences Black Language Minority Health Service Users’ Perceived Acceptability and Satisfaction with Healthcare Access in Quebec and Ontario

Official language minorities face language barriers when it comes to accessing health services but many of them also face racial/cultural barriers.

The healthcare system strives to ensure the health of all people equally regardless of race or language. Health-care workers communicate directly with patients and these interactions play a role in how the patients view the health care system. How the patients view the healthcare system will have implications for how they use it (Penchansky & Thomas, 1981).

The project plans to explore and highlight the importance of patient and healthcare workers communication interactions on perceptions of healthcare access from a self-determination theory perspective. The research could help protect more vulnerable groups by participating in investigations on how to reduce inequalities in healthcare access for visible and language minorities. Do health care workers’ level of language proficiency impact perceived autonomy support and perceived access to health? How do previous experiences with healthcare workers impact subsequent perceived access to health care for black linguistic minorities in Quebec and Ontario? How do race and language combine to make interactions with healthcare workers affect perceptions of autonomy support for black linguistic minorities?