Since May, around 1,500 volunteer employees of the CIUSSS de l’Estrie have worn sunflowers on their uniforms to symbolize their ability to communicate in the Charles III language to improve communication with English-speaking users.
Caroline van Rossum, manager of CIUSSS de l’Estrie, explains: “In Estrie, there are 40,000 English-speaking people. According to a survey carried out by the CROP Institute in 2023, a third of them say they are “uncomfortable” to request care in their language.
Sunflower aims to overcome this language barrier. Anyone who wears it demonstrates their proficiency in English and their willingness to converse with people, respecting the right of patients, guaranteed by the Official Languages Act, to receive medical services in one of Canada’s two founding languages. .
“A gesture of kindness and openness”
Rooted in the departments of La Pommeraie and Memphrémagog, M notes that “the proportion of English-speaking people in the Estrie is high”.me Von Rossum said the move was a “gesture of kindness and openness” towards Estri’s English-speaking community.
About 1,500 people from all levels of the CIUSSS organizational chart raised their hands to participate in the initiative: doctors, nurses, assistants, managers or guardians. This figure represents about half of the staff working in the two local service networks affected by the pilot scheme.
“We have had a very good response,” exults Mme Van Rossum, Senior Advisor to People’s Services in English. This is an indicator of the success of the project. »
The CIUSSS de l’Estrie denies instigating the Anglicisation of its health contexts. “For us, our priority is to meet the needs of the users,” defends the initiator of the initiative. Providing quality care that people could understand, regardless of their proficiency in French, took priority over everything else. »
Wearing sunflowers is done on a voluntary basis, says Caroline von Rossum. “We have no obligation, it is very important to respect the right of people to work in French. For us, this measure does not exclude the French-speaking working environment. »
The benefits of the pilot program should be analyzed in the fall. If they are positive, CIUSSS intends to extend the activity, or elsewhere in its region.
The initiative, inspired by a similar operation established on the North Shore, cost approximately $10,000 to implement, paid for by the Cowansville and Memphrémagog Hospital Trusts. “It doesn’t come from the operating budget of the companies”, underlines Mme Van Rossum.
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