Vingt ans de médiation interculturelle en milieu hospitalier : le temps de dresser un bilan

Our article focuses on the setting up of an intercultural mediation service in a public hospital to help hospital staff in their relations with patients of foreign origin. Staff diversity is frequently presented in the literature as a way to improve relations with users and clients (diversity business case). There are many managerial studies that put in case the benefits of such a diversity policy, however there are few scientific studies that document what the company and / or organization can gain from it and how it manages it. We will focus on the intercultural mediators who work in French-speaking hospitals in Belgium, presenting the reasons for the creation of this function, their objectives, the problems they manage, the expertise accumulated and the lessons learned from these experiences. The difficulties encountered, in the hospital, by patients of another cultural origin (migrants, refugees, etc.) are numerous: language problems which make it more difficult to diagnose and explain treatments, errors of interpretation and communication throughout the treatment process, stress for the patients but also the nursing staff. In French-speaking Belgium, most hospitals have had an intercultural mediator for more than 20 years. The mediator is a translator but also a person who knows both cultures: that of the country of origin and that of the host country. Its mission is to optimize the helping relationship, diagnosis and treatment. These mediation services are quite interesting to study in order to better understand how these diversity management policies improve the quality of services (economic logic of diversity management policies) but also ensure more equality. in front of care (social logics of diversity management policies).