Facilitators and Barriers to Equitable Healthcare Delivery for Linguistic Minorities: A Qualitative Pilot Study of Healthcare Professionals in Montreal, Quebec, Canada

Objectives/Research Questions: 1) What do healthcare professionals perceive as barriers to healthcare access/delivery for linguistic minorities? 2) What resources do healthcare professionals in public and private settings utilize to facilitate healthcare access/delivery for linguistic minority patients?

Methods: This study will be conducted over a period of 6 months using participant snowball sampling. Data gathering will begin with interviews (conversational and guided) with a sample of 10-12 healthcare professionals from different healthcare fields (nursing, speech language pathology, physiotherapy, occupational therapy, and medicine) working in both public and private healthcare settings. With consent, audio recordings and written memos will be taken during the interviews. Data to foster reflexivity will include a detailed record of my own experiences as an upcoming healthcare professional who also identifies as part of the linguistic minority population. Data collection will be recursive, whereby observations will refine interview questions. Healthcare professionals may be invited to participate in a second interview following the initial interview to clarify any emergent questions/observations and ensure accuracy of data interpretations. Data analysis will be ongoing, critical and iterative and will occur in dialogue with relevant critical theories, published evidence, and my supervisory committee.