[Perceptions of Communication Barriers Experienced by Migrants in Healthcare Services].

Authors

María Belén Labraña Palma, Sergio Vladimir Flores Carrasco

Published in

Revista medica de Chile. Volume 154. Issue 4. Pages 554-563. Epub Jun 17, 2026.

Abstract

Migrants face linguistic, cultural, and structural communicative barriers when accessing healthcare services, which impede understanding of instructions, expression of symptoms, participation in shared decision-making, and treatment adherence, thereby fostering mistrust, stigma, and exclusion from the system.
To analyze, from an integrative perspective, the primary communicative barriers perceived by migrants and to evaluate the strategies proposed in the literature to overcome them.
A scoping review was conducted following the Joanna Briggs Institute methodology and PRISMA-ScR extension. Articles indexed in Scopus, PubMed, and Web of Science up to January 2024 were retrieved using the query "language barriers AND healthcare AND migrants." After removing duplicates, 11 qualitative studies and meta syntheses published between 2011 and 2024 were selected.
The studies confirm that linguistic barriers are most prevalent, with interpreter availability and quality highly heterogeneous, often resulting in informal mediation or complete lack of support. Cultural differences in health beliefs and practices generate misunderstandings and stigma, particularly in mental and reproductive health. Administrative complexity, lack of awareness of patient rights, and discriminatory attitudes further exacerbate exclusion. The most cited strategies include intercultural competency training for healthcare professionals, systematic use of interpreters and cultural mediators, simplification of technical language, and implementation of video-interpretation technology.
Ensuring equitable, high-quality care requires public policies that guarantee adequate linguistic and cultural resources, intercultural communication training for staff, and development of culturally adapted, translated informational materials; only an integrated approach will reduce disparities and strengthen the therapeutic relationship with migrant populations.

PMID:
42441679
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 14 Jul 2026.

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