How can Design Thinking reduce language barriers between community pharmacists and immigrant customers?

In her master thesis, Nhu N. Nguyen investigated language barriers between community pharmacists and immigrants, and identified a number of coping strategies by using the Design Thinking methodology.

Master student Nhu N. Nguyen at the Department of Pharmacy, University of Oslo, is bilingual (Norwegian and Vietnamese). She has a particular first-hand interest in how community pharmacists communicate with immigrants. In her master thesis she investigated language barriers between community pharmacists and immigrants. She also identified a number of coping strategies by using the Design Thinking methodology.

In Norway, health information is mostly available in Norwegian only, and occasionally in English. In this study, we investigated language barriers between pharmacists and immigrant customers with limited Norwegian or English language skills. We studied coping strategies when pharmacists and immigrants do not share a common language.

What is the Design Thinking methodology?

The Design Thinking method enhances creative thinking and innovation. In our study it comprised questionnaires, interviews and observations of pharmacist-customer encounters. We found that pharmacists and immigrant customers used e.g., visual measures such as showing pictures from the mobile phone, pointing at medicine packages or lists, or called for a bilingual friend/colleague.

Based on these findings, we developed a prototype consisting of a number of comic strips, two examples of which are shown below.

Illustration of drug-drug interaction between two medicines. Copyright: Ingrid Landfald Røen.
Image may contain: Rectangle, Font, Circle, Motor vehicle, Logo.
Illustration explaining that a branded and generic medicine contain the same active ingredient of the same strength. Copyright: Ingrid Landfald Røen.

We tested the comic strips for guessability on immigrants from Vietnam, and the staff in a community pharmacy tested the strips on immigrant pharmacy customers. The feedback was overall positive.

In future research, we will test if this mode of communication can lower communication barriers when pharmacists and immigrants don’t share a common language, to ensure that information about how and when to take medicines is clear to the customer.

Interested to learn more? Click here to watch the 4-minutes presentation by Nguyen at the Pharmacy practice research virtual summer meeting, International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP). Please note that a number of participants also asked questions throughout the discussion section following Nguyen's presentation.

Any comments or questions are welcomed!

Master student: Nhu N. Nguyen, nn.nguyen@outlook.com

Supervisors:

  • Professor Anne Gerd Granås, Section for Pharmaceutics and Social Pharmacy, Department of Pharmacy, University of Oslo, a.g.granas@farmasi.uio.no.
  • Associate Professor Reidun Lisbet Skeide Kjome, Centre for Pharmacy, Department of Global Public Health and Primary Care, University of Bergen.
  • Associate Professor Bente Irminger, Department of Design, University of Bergen.
  • Associate Professor Carsten Gunnar Helgesen, Department of Computer science, Electrical engineering and Mathematical science, Western Norway University of Applied Sciences.
Published Dec. 21, 2021 3:28 PM - Last modified Dec. 21, 2021 3:33 PM