Migration patterns have rapidly changed in Australia and elsewhere, which have contributed to increasingly culturally and linguistically diverse societies. This requires healthcare sectors to provide professional interpreter services for patients with a language barrier to eliminate healthcare disparities. This integrative review aimed to investigate the impact of professional interpreter services on hospital care outcomes and the associated cost of service provision. A systematic search of five databases was conducted for peer-reviewed articles from January 1996 to December 2020. Data were extracted for the hospital setting, intervention, population, study design, outcomes and key findings. Following the PRISMA guidelines, full-text screening identified 37 articles that were analysed and included. Communication quality, hospital care outcomes and hospital costs were the three main themes identified. Closing the language gap should be a primary consideration to prevent adverse events that affect patient safety and the standard of care in hospitals. The findings of this review indicate the provision of professional interpreter services can enhance hospital care for linguistically diverse patients by improving patient–provider communication. To gain insight into the changing patterns on the outcomes of medical care, further research requires efforts by the hospital administrative system to document complete records of service usage.

Background: Since 2000 considerable attention has been placed on maternal health outcomes as the 5th Millennium Goal. In Uganda, only 65% of births are delivered by a skilled birth attendant, contributing to the 435 women that die in every 100,000 births from unattended complications. Factors that impact a women’s decision on where to deliver include cost and household barriers, poor health services and lack of education. Methods: Insight into factors impacting maternal health decision-making in two villages in South Eastern Uganda, were explored through a cross-sectional study using focus group discussions (FDGs) with men and women and administering a simple questionnaire. Results: For men and women in the villages, cultural and community patterns of behavior have the strongest impact on delivery options. While women with no complications could often find options to deliver safely, lack of emergency obstetric care remains a strong factor in maternal deaths. Conclusions: This article proposes that communities be engaged in identifying and leveraging their strengths to find solutions for challenges facing women in achieving safe deliveries.

Skilled migration has become a significant strategy for meeting skill demands and shortages in Australia; however, many skilled migrants experience barriers to securing employment which creates an array of social and economic insecurities and vulnerabilities. Those whose overseas qualifications and work experience are not recognised in host countries will often experience skill wastage and atrophy and exploitation. The recognition of overseas qualifications and experience (ROQE) has been identified as a ‘central immigration issue of the new century … in all post-industrial societies receiving immigrants’. For many skilled migrants, ROQE creates a barrier for securing employment commensurate with qualifications and experience and thereby creates skills wastage and downward mobility. The aim of this paper is to analyse ROQE through the dual theoretical lenses of human capital theory and the critical analyses of knowledge hierarchies. Data from a survey of skilled migrants in Western Australia are used to compare the occupations of skilled migrants prior to entering Australia and their current occupation. The paper offers a dual lens theoretical analysis of the problematic ROQE phenomenon and concludes with policy- and practice-based strategies that would assist in reducing skills wastage and the exploitation of skilled migrants.

Aim This systematic literature review documented, analysed and critiqued the accessibility of contraception and sexual and reproductive health (SRH) information for women living in low- and middle-income countries who have undergone medical or surgical abortion. Methodology This review systematically collated relevant and recent empirical evidence regarding women's access to contraception and SRH information post-abortion within low- and middle-income countries. The PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) framework Guidelines, Flow Diagram and Checklist were utilised to undertake the review. The Ovid (MEDLINE), ProQuest, Science Direct, Web of Science, PUBMED and CINAHL databases were searched and studies that met edibility criteria were assessed for validity and analysis. A narrative synthesis of characteristics and results of the included studies is presented. Findings After detailed assessment of available and relevant literature, nine studies were selected for inclusion in the review. Studies highlighted barriers to contraception and SRH information including supply limitation, lack of comprehensive education and counselling, lack of skilled post-abortion care (PAC) providers and abortion stigma. Conclusions The review found that with access to a wide range of contraceptive methods combined with comprehensive SRH information and education, contraception uptake in women post-abortion does increase. The review also highlights the inconsistencies in clinic-reported ‘counselling’ and what this term actually involves within a PAC setting.