Language barriers push pharmacists
PHARMACISTS should look to professional translation services rather than asking colleagues to act as interpreters, when dealing with patients from non-English speaking backgrounds, a study recommends.
The research found Australia’s rich multicultural heritage created a number of challenges for pharmacists working in the community setting, with language barriers and differences in cultural attitudes significant barriers when interacting with patients.
The study found pharmacists “invested considerable effort into overcoming the language barriers and ventured well beyond the expected scope of practice to attempt to communicate effectively with patients”, with one reporting they tried to brush up on their Spanish, in order to communicate with customers, while another used the linguistic skills of an intern to translate into Afrikaans when consulting with a South African patient.
“It may be useful to have someone in the pharmacy speaking the same language as the customers, however, as professional pharmacists should be using professional interpreters rather than using staff or students untrained in professional interpreting techniques,” the authors said.
The need to explain cultural differences between the way pharmacies operating in different countries was also identified as a challenge for pharmacists in Australia, with people from different cultures expecting different services.
The study flagged pharmacists exposure to racism from both patients and from within the profession, with one pharmacist of Middle Eastern origin reporting “I am sometimes told positions are filled when they are not”, while another said, “I am Asian and fully aware of the multicultural diversity and the existing racism in the community”.
Pharmacists also identified religious issues, such as the need to know if the gelatine used in capsules was halal, as challenges when speaking with patients.
The authors concluded that pharmacy schools needed to focus on this challenges in their curricula.
“To ignore the complex influence of culture on practice, would, to borrow Oberg’s metaphor, constitute ignoring the very medium in which we swim,” the authors said.