Health care interactions in multicultural societies

Communication has been identified as the single biggest barrier to health care and the provision of culturally and linguistically appropriate services is a top priority, particularly in light of the illness burden imposed by diseases such as HIV/AIDS. A body of research has emerged in Sweden and South Africa on communication strategies in medical interaction, with a special focus on intercultural and activity-dependent aspects in communicatively challenged interactions. This collaborative project will combine the data and enable new insights into intercultural communicative processes and their application to policy and practice as well as the training of clinicians.