SCIS provide a range of options:
Education and development on working with cultural and social diversity: Workshops and seminars organized by SCIS are open to hospital personnel and are designed for the needs of specific teams or groups. Overall, SCIS assists health care teams and other staff members to integrate cultural/social issues and perspectives into their practices and presentations, and directs them to appropriate resource people or speakers.
Qualified interpreters: Language and cultural interpreters help staff communicate with patients and families in over forty languages and dialects. Language and cultural interpreters interpret both verbal and non-verbal communication, and by acting as mediators, they reduce cultural and linguistic misunderstandings and alert staff to social inequities.
Literature searches: SCIS tracks electronic links related to culture, lifestyle, health disparities, health equity and cultural safety. Other topics include ethnoracial and sociocultural diversity, racism, microaggressions, and their impact on the healthcare encounter as well as collaborative approaches to health care. Online searches are available by request. Sessions were open to all healthcare professionals and staff and will continue with proposed funding from the Montreal Children’s Hospital Foundation.
Consultations: SCIS provides consultations on questions of cultural assessment, transcultural communication, ethnocultural health practices, working through interpreters, interracial relations, same-sex parenting, etc. Documentation and resources are available to assist clinicians in understanding cultural/social factors that may influence the care of, and communication with patients, families or groups.
Links with cultural communities: SCIS provides information about groups that support ethnocultural, disability, sexual orientation, gender and material needs. Communication and exchanges with these groups about resources, healthcare practices, and beliefs helps to build links. Many cultural holidays and special days associated with emerging communities of hospital users are acknowledged and celebrated at the MCH.