The Active Offer of French Language Health Services: Why It Matters and How to Put It Into Practice

This training helped me learn more about the importance of French language health services. Several members of my extended family are Francophone and have a little knowledge of the English language, but not enough to understand or to be understood in life or death situations. In the training course, I really liked the testimonials as they helped demonstrate real life. (Translated from French)

When I first heard about active offer, my immediate thought was we do offer French language health services if people want it.  This course was a definite eye opener for me as it is way more than just having an option of being able to serve clients in French. We need to actively offer French language services and not wait until they tell us as sometimes, their natural tendencies is to pretend they understand or say they are comfortable in either language or we assume. There are many topics in the modules that affected me personally and professionally; I will always remember the connections I made with the real-life scenarios.

As a francophone, I was not aware of active offer. Regardless of our mother tongue, it is important to understand the context and the principles of active offer so that we may help our patients. These modules foster a lot of reflection both professionally and administratively. It was very interesting and I will be more attentive to my patients. I really appreciated the training! (Translated from French)

The videos provided really highlighted the significant impact language barriers can have and how important it is to have services available in French to best meet the needs of the patient.

This very relevant and informative training program provides a better understanding of the importance of active offer and the responsibilities of all key players. (Translated from French)

The Active Offer of French Language Health Services modules brought to my attention how inequitable health care can be for a French-speaking patient when there is no active offer for French language health services. The modules had me recall an experience of an interaction between a patient, myself, and another health care practitioner where an active offer was not made. The Active Offer of French Language Services education made me think about what I would do differently if I could revisit that moment.