Abstract:
Through language, a patient accesses the health care system, gets to learn about available
services, so as to make decisions about her or his health. Language is also the means by which
the health care provider accesses a patient’s beliefs about health and illness, and thus creates
an opportunity to address and reconcile different belief systems. In essence, communication
between nurses and patients is the heart of nursing care. Communication between patients and
chemists is also key to their access to healthcare. Such patients visit chemist for self-medication
or to procure medicine for themselves or their families. The multilingual situation in Kenya
and many African countries can complicate communication between healthcare providers and
their patients. Such complications can cause language barriers that can impair access to
healthcare. This is due to low literacy levels and challenges in understanding languages of
wider communication such as English and Kiswahili for the case of Kenya. Under these
circumstances, translation and interpretation become key to alleviating or eliminating
communication barriers. This paper discuses linguistic challenges in access to healthcare in
Kenya and proposes translation and interpretation as a way of dealing with the challenges. It
argues that in a highly multilingual situation as is the case in Kenya, Translation and
interpretation is a significant way of addressing challenges in medical access.
