Article

Primary purpose to determine if cultural and linguistic diversity
affects health-related outcomes in people with stroke at discharge from hospital
and secondary purpose to explore whether interpreter use alters these outcomes.
METHOD: Systematic search of: Cochrane, PEDro, CINAHL, Medline, Pubmed, Embase,
PsycINFO and Ageline databases. Publications were classified into whether they
examined the impact of diversity in culture, or language or culture and language
combined. Quality of evidence available was summarized using Best Evidence
Synthesis. RESULTS: Eleven studies met inclusion criteria and were reviewed. Best
Evidence Synthesis indicated conflicting evidence about the impact of culture
alone and language barriers alone on health-related outcomes. There was strong
evidence that hospital length of stay does not differ between groups when the
combined impact of culture and language was investigated. Conflicting evidence
was found for other outcomes including admission, discharge and change in FIM
scores, and post-hospital discharge living arrangements. It is unknown if
interpreter use alters health-related outcomes, because this was infrequently
reported. CONCLUSION: The current limited research suggests that cultural and
linguistic diversity does not appear to impact on health-related outcomes at
discharge from hospital for people who have had a stroke, however further
research is needed to address identified gaps. Implications for Rehabilitation
The different language, culture and beliefs about health demonstrated by patients
with stroke from minority groups in North America do not appear to significantly
impact on their health-related outcomes during their admission to hospital. It is
not known whether interpreter use influences outcomes in stroke rehabilitation
because there is insufficient high quality research in this area. Clinicians in
countries with different health systems and different cultural and linguistic
groups within their communities need to view the results with caution as further
investigation is required outside North America to ensure optimal and equitable
care for these groups. In the absence of clear outcomes from high quality
research, clinicians should ensure patients and their families have an optimal
understanding of the health condition, the rehabilitation process and the service
system, irrespective of language or cultural differences.

Langue : ANGLAIS