Aims: Cross-cultural communication is central to co-design work with multicultural communities that seeks to redress inequities in cancer care and outcomes. Best practice cross-cultural communication is characterised by awareness, humility, openness, identification and provision of appropriate resources. This session aims to explore the application of these principles in co-design work conducted in cancer care using three case studies from projects targeting identified inequities in medication safety, access to care coordination and continuity of care between primary and specialist providers with multicultural communities in New South Wales (NSW) and Victoria.
Methods: Three central strategies were employed to enhance opportunities for consumers with limited English language proficiency to contribute equitably in the process of each co-design: 1) pre-briefing bicultural bilingual health workers with consumers at the outset and ahead of each session about the scope of work, purpose of each session and how they wish to work with an interpreter, 2) providing a certified translation of the key materials ahead of the session and interpreter during the sessions in addition to bicultural bilingual staff, and 3) debriefing from each session with both consumers and bicultural staff.
Results: The opportunity to engage with multisource cultural and linguistic support facilitated shared understanding of the purpose of the process, navigating cultural ‘bumps’ in concepts and terminology. Consensus about how to transfer meaning from one cultural world to another could be generated from the synthesis of formal and informal interpretation. Inclusion of certified translations and interpreters to support consumers and bicultural bilingual staff generated a rich environment for contributions to be made but also reduced cultural burden on bicultural staff.
Conclusions: Co-design work with multicultural communities may benefit from the adoption of cross-cultural communication strategies that are established and resourced from the outset to enhance equitable contributions to be made.