Turning to the Companion: Types of Assistance in Oncology Visits with Non-Native Patients in the Italian Context

It is well established that companions play a significant role within medical consultations, providing various forms of support to patients-particularly in sensitive communicative contexts such as oncology. While the role of companions for patients who do not share the doctor's native language has been examined primarily in relation to linguistic issues, in this paper we aim to investigate the possible repertoire of ways in which non-native patients recruit their companions during first oncology visits and to understand what kinds of supportive actions companions produce in response. The dataset consists of video-recorded doctor-patient-companion interactions in an outpatient oncology department in Italy. Six distinct types of assistance solicited by the patient and provided by the companion were identified: assistance with documents, language assistance, interactional assistance, decision-making support, acknowledging a stance, and acknowledging a problem for an overhearing audience. To the extent that the companion is addressed as a relevant recipient of turns (e.g., expressions of stance, smiles, or laughter) that can be interpreted as pursuing affiliation, the paper discusses how companions create an interactionally achieved "safe space" within the consultation-one that allows patients to articulate uncertainty, resistance, or to address delicate or potentially troublesome moments without directly challenging institutional expectations. The study shows how companions contribute to sustaining progressivity and maintaining the patient's participation, even in the absence of formal language brokering. These findings deepen understanding of multiparty interaction in intercultural oncology care and suggest that informal companions play a role in supporting patient agency, face-management, and participation in complex institutional encounters.