Wellesley Institute

Wellesley Institute works in research and policy to improve health and health equity in the GTA through action on the social determinants of health.

Home Publications Access to Language Interpretation Services and its Impact on Clinical and Patient Outcomes

Nazeefah Laher, Anjum Sultana, Anjana Aery, Nishi Kumar

Access to Language Interpretation Services and its Impact on Clinical and Patient Outcomes

Medical professionals and family members around a person in a hospital bed

Language barriers are a significant challenge in ensuring equitable access to health care. Ontarians who are not proficient in, or unable to speak an official language (English or French), face inequities in health care settings. Language interpretation services are an intervention to promote language accessibility in health care. To better understand the effectiveness of professional interpretation in health care we conducted a scoping review to examine the impact language interpretation services on patient and clinical outcomes. 

Download Access to Language Interpretation Services and its Impact on Clinical and Patient Outcomes: A Scoping Review

Acknowledgement of Traditional Land

We wish to acknowledge this land on which the Wellesley Institute operates. For thousands of years, it has been the traditional land of the Huron-Wendat, the Seneca, and the Mississaugas of the Credit. Today, this meeting place is still the home to many Indigenous people from across Turtle Island and we are grateful to have the opportunity to work on this land.

Revised by the Ceremonial Committee at the University of Toronto Office of Indigenous Initiatives in April 2021.