Exploring the influence of language concordance and the active offer of French language physician services on patient satisfaction through a Northern Ontario continuing professional development initiative

Abstract

Francophone minority populations across Canada experience poorer health outcomes. A lack of French language health services may be a contributing factor. Interpersonal communication between patient and physician is essential to providing quality health care and the legislative landscape in Ontario is evolving to become more responsive to Francophone communication needs. For instance, the passing of Bill 74 and the modernisation of the French Language Services Act (that was first passed in 1989) have created an expectation that health service providers will proactively offer services in French. The purpose of the present thesis was to develop and evaluate the effectiveness of a continuing professional development (CPD) program that teaches patient-centered communication through the active offer of French language services; to investigate the presence of the active offer in Northeastern Ontario; and to explore the influence of language concordance and the active offer on patient satisfaction.