Consultation with non-English speaking communities: rapid bilingual appraisal

Government services, including health departments, are insisting that consumers or users of health services be consulted. Linguistic diversity in communities can pose challenges to planners and policymakers in this communication and consultation agenda. This article presents rapid bilingual appraisal as a useful technique for health services to meet the requirements set by equity and access guidelines and legislation. This method was used in an area health service as part of an independent feasibility study. Health services should recognise the need for such consultation and allocate appropriate resources and time to conduct such consultations, and for skilled bilingual facilitators and qualified interpreters to be employed and developed as part of the team.