Structuring Communication Difficulties of Foreign Residents When Visiting a Medical Institution in Japan

抄録

Aims: This study was conducted with the following two purposes; 1) To identify and structure difficulties caused by communication based on the experiences of foreign patients who reside in Japan and whose native language was not Japanese when they visit a Japanese medical institution; 2) To examine communication means for providing proper medical care to foreign patients.

Methods: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with foreign residents. The data were analyzed using the Methodology for Conceptualization of Nursing.

Results: Of the eight core categories formed, “provision of health care services that neglect the importance of patient-centered communication”, “disparities in intercultural competence among health care providers”, “one-sided use of machine translation led by health care providers,” “lack of information about Japanese medical institutions and culture,” “overexpectations for Japanese health care,” and “structural problems of foreign community,” indicated the factors that caused problems to arise due to communication. “lack of awareness of the need for medical interpreters to receive appropriate health care,” and “the need of acquiring and maintaining professional medical interpreting skills to meet patient expectations” showed the problems and issues in expanding the use of medical interpreters.

Conclusions: The factors that cause difficulties in medical communication from the perspective of foreign patients were caused by both medical institutions and healthcare providers and foreign patients, but they were also caused by structural problems faced by the foreign community. Daily support to the foreign community is necessary for the provision of appropriate medical care to foreign residents. In addition, the active introduction of medical interpreters can be considered as a countermeasure for medical communication, but the following issues need to be addressed: (i) raising awareness of medical interpreters among foreign patients, (ii) proposing the proactive use of medical interpreters by health care providers, and (iii) acquiring and maintaining high interpreting skills of medical interpreters.