The Health Impact of Living in a Nursing Home With a Predominantly Different Spoken Language

Abundant research shows that linguistic barriers can have a negative impact on access to and quality of health care, as well as a patient's health outcomes.1–3 Establishing a culturally appropriate environment, by providing care to nursing home residents in their preferred language, is key in providing good-quality long-term care (LTC) services.4,5 French is one of Canada's 2 official languages. In Ontario, Canada, studies using population-based data have shown that Francophones have a lower perception of good health, higher prevalence of chronic diseases, and greater dependency on LTC services compared to Anglophones.