ArticlePloS one2025
The effect of language discordance on the experience of palliative care: A scoping review.
Article in PloS one, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
2 citing papers in PubMed.
- Branching-scenario games in acute end-of-life care education: cultural adaptation and health equity from a public health implementation perspective.Frontiers in public health · 2026Review
- Relationship Between Social Determinants of Health and Domains of Care Addressed During Pediatric Palliative Care Visits for Children with Cancer.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
2 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundInternationally, research demonstrates consistent disparities in access to palliative care services for those in underserved communities with life-limiting conditions.
objectivesThis outcomes-oriented scoping review examines the impact of language discordance on palliative care (PC) experiences. It seeks to answer the question: what are the PC experiences of individuals who do not speak the same language as their care provider? The review explored the range and depth of existing research and synthesizing trends across studies.
designOnline databases were used to find articles published in English or French, from January 1, 2010, to February 5, 2024. Inclusion criteria included studies that explored the relationship between palliative, end-of-life or hospice care, as well as advance care planning in the context of language discordance between individual and health care provider. This scoping review was originally designed to explore Canadian official language minority communities, but was broadened to an international search for a more robust dataset.
resultsA total of 39 articles were included in the review, 23 qualitative studies, nine quantitative studies and seven mixed-methods studies. The following elements were extracted from eligible articles: country, study design, target population and definitions, participant characteristics, definitions of PC, outcomes studied, findings related to the study aims, as well as author-defined study limitations and next steps. Areas for further research were identified, as were areas for policy and practice change. Studies used various perspectives of PC, often synonymizing it with end-of-life and hospice care, as well as advanced care planning. There was no contextual definition of language barriers in the studies and no studies that explored the PC in any Canadian official language minority communities. The importance of in-language resources, accessibility of skilled interpreters, education in cross-cultural care were all common themes in the literature.
conclusionsFrom a variety of perspectives, studies generally found that language discordance has a negative impact on the quality of accessibility of palliative, end-of-life and hospice care, as well as advanced care planning. Given that Canada's population is becoming increasingly linguistically diverse, there is a need to better understand the impact of receiving PC from individuals who speak another language on both the quality of PC and quality of life at the end of life.
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Registered trials
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