A Survey on the Demand and Supply of Medical Language Services for Yi Ethnic Minority Patients in Xichang Hospitals

Jiang Xinmei

Chinese Journal of Language Policy and Planning ›› 2025, Vol. 10 ›› Issue (4) : 34-43.

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Chinese Journal of Language Policy and Planning ›› 2025, Vol. 10 ›› Issue (4) : 34-43. DOI: 10.19689/j.cnki.cn10-1361/h.20250404

A Survey on the Demand and Supply of Medical Language Services for Yi Ethnic Minority Patients in Xichang Hospitals

  • Jiang Xinmei
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Abstract

Patients from linguistically disadvantaged groups often face communication barriers when seeking medical care, highlighting the importance of language services in healthcare settings. This study focuses on ethnic minority patients, employing questionnaire surveys, interviews, and observations to investigate the situation in three hospitals in Xichang City, Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan Province. The findings include significant disparities in language proficiency between healthcare providers and Yi patients, communication barriers involving both spoken and written language, and a shared need for language services among healthcare professionals and patients. The demand for medical language service resources varies considerably: there is a high demand for human resources such as bilingual healthcare workers and volunteers, while the need for written resources is lower. Additionally, medical professionals exhibit a greater need for technical resources compared to patients. There is also a demand for policy guarantees in this domain. The study suggests optimization in the following areas: enhancing the diversity of service providers and establishing a volunteer-based medical language service system; building and improving human resource capacity for medical language services to align with patients and healthcare providers’ language abilities; strengthening technological support through tools like translation devices and remote translation platforms; and developing a comprehensive system of policies and legal frameworks to ensure adequate medical language services.

Key words

emergency language services / doctor-patient communication / language policy / language barriers / language situation

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Jiang Xinmei. A Survey on the Demand and Supply of Medical Language Services for Yi Ethnic Minority Patients in Xichang Hospitals[J]. Chinese Journal of Language Policy and Planning. 2025, 10(4): 34-43 https://doi.org/10.19689/j.cnki.cn10-1361/h.20250404

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