Wir überwinden Grenzen

The Center for Pediatrics at the Medical Center - University of Freiburg offers tailor-made and individual German language courses for patient families who do not speak German

On Friday, December 4, 2020, the "Project One World" of the Center for Pediatrics at the Medical Center - University of Freiburg was awarded the Integration Prize of the City of Freiburg. Since 2019, the project has been offering tailor-made language courses for parents who do not speak German and whose children with serious acute or chronic illnesses are being treated at the Center for Pediatrics. Many of the parents have no other opportunity to attend a German course due to their child's illness. At "Project One World", professional German teachers teach them the language skills they need to communicate in everyday situations at the clinic. Classes are currently only held online. "We regularly receive positive feedback from the parents, who are very grateful for this uncomplicated support," report art therapist Wendy Zähringer-Hardy and social pedagogue Kerstin Handloser from the Center for Pediatrics, who developed and run the project, which is supported by donations.

Language as the key to recovery

The language barrier has been a major challenge for patients and their families in everyday hospital life for many years. Families with refugee experience in particular need special support when they have to deal with the illness of a child in addition to traumatizing experiences in their home country and during their flight. "Language is an important key to recovery, to a successful relationship between patient and practitioner," says Prof. Dr. Charlotte Niemeyer, Medical Director of the Department of Pediatric Hematology and Oncology at the Medical Center - University of Freiburg. "Only if I understand my patients and their relatives can I understand their story and develop the necessary trust to get through difficult phases of treatment together."

A wide range of support services

The great linguistic diversity at the Center for Pediatrics was already evident in a survey conducted on three different days in 2016: 32% of parents had not learned German as a native language, and 15% had such poor German language skills that verbal communication in everyday clinical practice was only possible with the help of interpreters. A total of 36 different languages were reported as the mother tongue of parents and treated children. The Center for Pediatrics takes this linguistic diversity into account by frequently using interpreters in the clinic. "It is very important for the quality of treatment and the safety of our patients that we call in interpreting support in good time," says PD Dr. Torsten Langer, Head of the Social Pediatric Center at the Medical Center - University of Freiburg. "Even if someone gets on well in everyday conversations, they may lack the necessary vocabulary to talk about medical issues. We need to be aware of this as healthcare professionals."

However, on-site interpreters can only be used in a planned manner. In everyday clinical practice, the necessary lead time is often not possible. If a child suddenly develops abdominal pain at night, nursing care staff, child and parents must be able to communicate quickly. This is why an additional video interpreting service was set up in 2016 as a result of the "Fit for dealing with diversity in hospital" cooperation project between the City of Freiburg and the Medical Center - University of Freiburg. Since then, trained interpreters can be called into the treatment room around the clock via video. "Project One World is now another building block to facilitate communication with the parents of our young patients," explains Niemeyer. "Being awarded the Integration Prize of the City of Freiburg is a great recognition of our ongoing commitment to overcoming language differences."

Contact:
Prof. Dr. Charlotte Niemeyer
Medical Director
Department of Pediatric Hematology and Oncology
Medical Center - University of Freiburg
Phone: 0761 270-45060
charlotte.niemeyer@uniklinik-freiburg.de