Immigrants in Canada represent a significant proportion of the population and have unique and complex health needs. The present study was undertaken to assess family physicians' views on the care of this population. Questionnaires were distributed to family physicians in Montreal ( n = 598). The main areas of interest were the attitudes of GPs in caring for immigrants, including perceived barriers, resources and strategies used in receiving immigrant patients, and training of GPs in immigrant care. GPs see communication difficulties as a major barrier and would like to see access to interpreters improved. Very few doctors use professional interpreters. Only a small proportion of doctors have received specific training in intercultural competence. Knowledge of doctors' perspectives is a fundamental element on which to base interventions to improve the quality of care for this population. Doctors should be reminded of the importance of using professional translation services during multilingual encounters. Cross-cultural training should be further advanced in Canadian medical programmes.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0738399117304755 4