Achieving Language Justice in Pediatric Hematology-Oncology: A Multinational Perspective for Language-Concordant Equitable Patient- and Family-Centered Care and Research Inclusion

Abstract

Language-discordant healthcare encounters—when the patient/caregiver and clinician are not able to communicate directly in the patient's/caregiver's preferred language—are associated with worse quality of care, increased adverse events, and research exclusion. Here, we describe the current state of language justice in clinical practice and research in the United States, Canada, and Spain, discuss the role of social determinants of health and language in patient safety and health outcomes, and review an example of culturally and linguistically concordant interventions to increase research participation. We close with practical and global strategies to increase multilingual research participation and to provide equitable patient- and family-centered care in pediatric hematology-oncology.