Balancing truth-telling: relatives acting as translators for older adult cancer patients of Turkish or northwest African origin in Belgium.

Results of this study provide insight into the attitudes and perceptions of oncology healthcare providers in their care for patients of non-Western descent. Barriers and difficulties are what oncology healthcare providers remember most vividly. All participants in this research indicated that they try to act according to their professional standards, which call for treating all patients equally and each patient is entitled to appropriate care. However as oncology healthcare providers, influenced by their personal attitudes, they are either not willing or not fully able to overcome barriers that are present, so they focus on medical aspects wherein ‘cure’ takes precedence over ‘care’. Customs and standards of the Belgian healthcare system are often understood in a monocultural way. The importance of a reflective attitude has been recognized as a cornerstone of qualitative intercultural care (Kleinman and Benson, 2006; Oude Breuil, 2005; Oliemeulen and Thung, 2007, Seeleman et al., 2009), and it should be one of the priorities in oncology care within our diverse societies nowadays. Although literature shows that access to trained professional interpreters or bilingual providers are the best guarantee for quality of healthcare where shared language is lacking (Flores, 2005), relying on family interpreters is the most common way to bridge language barriers. It is highly recommended that professional interpreters are seen as a standard tool for oncology healthcare providers. The focus on medical aspects wherein ‘cure’ takes precedence over ‘care’ causes feelings of inadequacy for those care providers who believe they should provide care of equal quality for patients of non-Western descent. On the other hand, care providers who believe care for patients of non-Western descent should not require much additional effort become irritated, as ‘these’ patients restrain them from providing appropriate care. Professional standards provide powerful protection against possible discrimination, particularly when they derive from personal attitudes. Thus extending the professional standard from ‘treating all patients equally’ to ‘care attuned to each patient’ might be a way to prevent ‘cure’ taking precedence over ‘care’. This extended professional standard might function as a buffer against personal views towards specific patient groups, and it might support and motivate oncology healthcare providers who seek to provide care of equal quality to overcome barriers and to search for long-term solutions.

Publication year:2017

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Authors from:Higher Education

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