Estrategias de comunicación para la atención a la población inmigrante: desafíos en la formación de los estudiantes de Ciencias de la Salud

Abstract

IntroductionTo explore the communication strategies used by Health Sciences students with the immigrant population during health care. Materials and methodsQualitative research of phenomenological/interpretive type with a Multiple Case Study design. 106 students from three universities and different Health Sciences careers in their final year of training were interviewed, with prior authorization from two institutional Ethics Committees, in addition to requesting informed consent. The content analysis was of inductive and was supported by the ATLAS.ti version 9 software. ResultsTwo categories were established; one, with the different semiotic modes used by the students and another, of personal skills present during clinical interaction. The student body reported having used different multimodal communication resources, from the non-verbal mode to the translator application mode, to provide care to foreigners, although they acknowledged not having received training on it. The choice and combination of the different modalities was guided by the context and personal skills were relevant for monitoring and adjustments during care. ConclusionsMultimodal communication and personal skills facilitate communicative interaction and allow offering quality health care for the immigrant population, overcoming linguistic and cultural barriers. This indicates that professional training in Health Sciences requires the explicit and systematic development of communication skills, as well as intra and interpersonal skills with a practical approach. Likewise, it needs technical and practical knowledge as well as praxeological knowledge that fosters a reflective attitude.