Exploring experience of the practice of French/English- home language interpretation for patients who are not proficient in the official language in Far-North postcolonial multilingual Cameroon: a healthcare providers' perspective

Abstract

As the Far North of Cameroon has the highest illiteracy rate in the country, a significant proportion of the population is unable to communicate in the official languages, English and French. As these two exoglossic languages are used in all areas of public life, many patients who are not proficient in them face language barriers in health centers. As Official Language non-proficient patients (OLNPPs), they are unable to communicate with health professionals who are trained in these languages. It is common practice to use interpreters to bridge this communication gap though the outcomes are not always satisfactory. Based on data from questionnaires administered through random sampling to 487 healthcare providers in 45 healthcare centers in the Far North Region of Cameroon, this study aims to explore the experiences of healthcare providers with French/English- home language interpreting in these centers. In addition to a quantitative analysis (using SPSS 18.0 (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences), a qualitative analysis was carried out using a thematic approach. The work is discussed from the perspectives of the cultural competence model (Brach & Fraser, 2000) and Postcolonial Linguistics (see Makoni, 2011; Arnke, 2017; Anchimbe, 2018; Levisen & Sippola, 2019). The findings reveal that the practice of French/English home language interpreting in health centers in the Far North Region of Cameroon faces several challenges. Furthermore,  it is found that healthcare providers are divided on the need to train French/English home language interpreters to limit language barriers in healthcare centers. While some healthcare providers view the training of French/English-home language interpreters positively as a means of overcoming language barriers between patients who do not speak the official language and healthcare providers (the Satisfied Group), others view it negatively (the Unsatisfied Group).