Language and communication: A vital component of health for people with refugee backgrounds.

Abstract or Summary

Title: Language and communication: A vital component of health for people with refugee backgrounds. Aim: This article reports on a collaborative project that explored transdisciplinary understandings of the implications of language development for the health and wellbeing of people who have come as refugees to Aotearoa New Zealand. Background: It is important to be cognizant of learners’ backgrounds and wider social worlds in order to best offer opportunities for English language development which is in most cases a significant factor in health literacy and in being able to access to health care resources. Methodology: A secondary analysis approach was used to analyse the health implications of an emergent data set from a primary research study with learners who were refugees. Sixty adults of refugee backgrounds participated in the primary research. Ages of participants ranged from 18 to 64 years old, and the participants were predominantly female. Findings: The key themes developed from the secondary analysis were, complexity of life experience, challenges to living and learning, family responsibilities, challenges to ‘peace of mind’ and mental health, and personal agency. Eliciting background narratives about who people are, where they are from, and how migration impacts at all levels of daily life, and consequently on their health and wellbeing, is integral to culturally safe practice with people with refugee backgrounds. Conclusions: The health of new New Zealanders is a social equity issue that nurses and other health and social care professionals need to be concerned with, especially in creating culturally safe conditions to engage people with refugee backgrounds in appropriate and effective encounters with health services.