Using Participatory Learning & Action research to access and engage with 'hard to reach' migrants in primary healthcare research.

Background: Communication problems occur in general practice consultations when migrants and general practitioners do not share a common language and culture. Migrants' perspectives have rarely been included in the development of guidelines designed to ameliorate this. Considered 'hard-to-reach' on the basis of inaccessibility, language discordance and cultural difference, migrants have been consistently excluded from participation in primary healthcare research.

Involving migrants in the development of guidelines for communication in cross-cultural general practice consultations: a participatory learning and action research project.

Objective: The aim of this research was to involve migrants and other key stakeholders in a participatory dialogue to develop a guideline for enhancing communication in cross-cultural general practice consultations. In this paper, we focus on findings about the use of formal versus informal interpreters because dialogues about these issues emerged as central to the identification of recommendations for best practice.

Design: This qualitative case study involved a Participatory Learning and Action (PLA) research methodology.