Language History Collection in Multilingual Clinical Practice: A Qualitative Analysis of Public-Sector Clinical...

Area of Science:

• Pediatric healthcare
• Speech-language pathology
• Cross-cultural communication

Background:

• Multilingual children require detailed language background collection for effective assessment and intervention.
• Current understanding of how clinicians gather language history in public-sector settings is limited.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate how clinicians gather, interpret, and use language history information from multilingual pediatric clients.
• To examine institutional and professional factors influencing language history collection practices.

Main Methods:

• A qualitative study involving semi-structured interviews with 21 clinicians in Canadian public-sector and community settings.
• Data analysis using framework analysis guided by the Theoretical Domains Framework.

Main Results:

• Clinicians universally value language history, integrating it into case histories.
• Practices vary based on clinician experience, institutional processes, and available resources.
• Flexible, conversational strategies are common but can lead to data inconsistencies without formal guidance or interpreter support.

Conclusions:

• Language history collection is complex, influenced by individual clinicians and systemic factors.
• Effective practice requires tools combining structured data with adaptable questioning.
• Systemic improvements necessitate clearer protocols, interpreter services, training, and culturally informed workflows.