Communication challenges in the provision of health visitor services to foreign families living in Hungary

Abstract

In Hungary, health visitors play a central role in supporting families during the pre-, peri-, and postnatal periods. As the country becomes linguistically diverse due to globalization and migra­tion, communication with non-Hungarian-speaking families has become a growing challenge. This exploratory quantitative study investigates how language barriers are managed in the oral communication and written information provided to foreign families. Data were collected be­tween April and October 2022 via two online questionnaires: one completed by 48 health visitors, the other by 51 families with at least one non-Hungarian parent. Both questionnaires explored the communication strategies of health visitors and foreign families, focusing on the health vis­itors’ foreign language skills and situations in which key written documents were available only in Hungarian. Descriptive statistics and frequency analyses were used. The findings reveal clear patterns in how language affects communication and access to care. Overall, Hungarian is the primary language of care both de jure and de facto, and limited foreign language proficiency among health visitors often necessitates informal language assistance in both oral and written communication. The study underscores the need for a comprehensive language assistance sys­tem to ensure equitable access to care and uphold patients’ fundamental right to understandable health information.