An online tool promoteing equitable access to French language health services
Obtaining health care services in French can be tedious depending on the province in which you live. Outside Quebec, bilingual health care services and professionals are sometimes scarce or non-existent. Research suggests that language barriers can affect the quality of care and health outcomes. eQUITY Link is an online resource site designed to build the capacity of health, social and/or community service institutions to implement French language services to make them more accessible.
Watch all the benefits of the Equity Link platform in less than two minutes:
What is our goal?
The eQUITY Link project (2013-2022) aims to promote equitable access to French-language health services by reducing language barriers for Francophone populations. The online platform brings together validated tools, tips and strategies to strengthen institutional offerings and services. Free, available 24/7, and confidential, platform users can advance at his or her own pace with the support of experts to achieve their personalized goals. We work with and for healthcare providers and suppliers. Also, the overall approach aims at meeting the criteria set out in the Access to Health and Social Services in Official Languages standard for applying to the Accreditation Canada recognition program.
How do we do this?
The platform acts on three major components:
- To guide health care, social service and/or community facility planners and managers through the various steps to address language barriers and implement proven solutions.
- To bring together validated, evidence-based tools that can help organizations understand the process of establishing an active offer of French language services.
- To empower users by allowing them to assess their current capacity in providing French language services, and by improving their delivery using the suggested best practice approach at their own pace with expert support.
- To sustain the offer of French-language services and use lessons learned to apply and adapt them to meet the needs of underserved communities.
Who is the target of this project?
The eQUITY Link platform is aimed at all health, social and/or community service institutions in Canada. The proposed approach can be adapted to meet the needs of under-served communities.
Who are we?
eQUITY Link project is implemented by the French Health Network of Central Southwestern Ontario in collaboration with the Société Santé en Français. This project is made possible through funding from Health Canada.
If you agree that :
- The implementation of French-language services is a societal and – above all – an equity issue
- Health is a right, not a privilege, especially for minority populations
- That it is urgent, necessary and cost-effective to increase efforts to ensure equitable access to health services
- That comprehensive strategies created for, with and by health care providers and suppliers are more effective and efficient
- That sharing tools and methodologies from trusted and recognized partners can lead to considerable cost advantages
JOIN US! Grow the community of users and supporters of our eQUITY Link platform by sending us an email at [email protected] or [email protected]
Learn more
Visit the platform in French or English.
Download our corporate brochure in French and English.
Visit the Health Human Resource Strategy web page.
Follow us on social media Twitter – Facebook – Instagram – LinkedIn
