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Language

The question:

At the hub, when youth are provided the sociodemographic questionnaire the question they receive related to language is:

Rationale for this question:

• Language is considered one of the greatest barriers in access to quality of care for youth of non-English speaking backgrounds.
• Language heavily impacts all pillars of quality, with overwhelming literature showing effects on things like diagnosis, youth safety, satisfaction, consent, and follow through on medical instructions.
• Language barriers are linked with both higher and lower rates of service use and access.

Important Considerations:

• Youth may speak more than one language, including English and/or French, but may be more comfortable speaking in their native tongue to access services, when they are in crisis, unwell, or in distress.
• If the youth don’t see their preferred language, they should check “other” and fill in the name of the language.
• If there are languages listed that you do not recognize or know how to pronounce, you can visit About World Languages for more information on them.

Responding to youth asking why they are being asked this question:

Asking this question can help with planning for any interpretation support, connect youth with a service provider that speaks their preferred language (if possible), and can connect youth to any newcomer and/or settlement programs and services if relevant and of interest.