Breaking language barriers in healthcare

Abstract Good communication in multilingual healthcare settings is vital to delivering patient-centered care. This study investigated the communication experiences of physicians’ and patients at Zamboanga City Medical Center (ZCMC), a public hospital in a multilingual city in the Philippines, focusing on the linguistic dynamics among Chabacano, Bisaya, and Tausug speakers during medical consultations. Employing a qualitative-ethnographic design, the study utilized direct observations to analyze interactions guided by the Calgary-Cambridge Model. The study showed that the physicians’ and patients’ communication experiences were marked by their multilingual reality through the use of translanguaging — a dynamic use of multiple languages — tailored to accomplish specific communicative tasks during consultations. Physicians and patients used translanguaging, regardless of whether they shared a common language, to facilitate better comprehension and engagement. The study highlights the critical need for integrating multilingual competencies into healthcare and recommends transforming health institutions such as ZCMC into a patient-centered space, by providing policies for inclusive communication. In doing so, health institutions can improve patient communication experiences, advancing health equity and universal healthcare goals in linguistically diverse regions.