Problems of communicative competence in multi-cultural medical encounters in South African health services.
Research in health communication shows communicative competence to be an important aspect of successful health-care. Definitions of competence involve more than the participants, however; the position and status of these participants in terms of the medical hierarchy and accepted paradigm, the language of choice, educational levels and a host of other variables affect relationships and perceptions of competence. This article grapples with a number of issues that impact on communicative competence in the health-care professions, given the multi-lingual and -cultural society within South Africa as well as emerging shifts that foreground this debate. In particular, the thorny question around language use, the hegemonies of the past regarding a dominant lingua franca and subsequent issues involving translation and interpretation are discussed.
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School of Management Studies, Leslie Commerce Building, University of Cape Town, Rondebosch, 7701 Cape Town, South Africa. tgrant@commerce.uct.ac.za
D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel / Q000208:ethnology*; D001294:Attitude to Health / Q000208:ethnology*; D002983:Clinical Competence / Q000592:standards*; D003144:Communication Barriers; D003299:Cooperative Behavior; D018864:Cultural Diversity; D003479:Curriculum; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand; D006801:Humans; D009013:Morale; D019303:Multilingualism; D009723:Nurse-Patient Relations; D009936:Organizational Innovation; D026706:Paternalism; D010348:Patient Care Team / Q000458:organization & administration; D010817:Physician-Patient Relations; D011203:Poverty; D011209:Power, Psychological; D011287:Prejudice; D012660:Semantics; D013019:South Africa; D016746:Transcultural Nursing / Q000193:education / Q000458:organization & administration