Health Literacy, Migration Traumas, Narrative Medicine and the Language Desk. New practices in translingualism and educational processes

Abstract

Health literacy (HL) is a complex field encompassing a range of public health education and communication activities that are crucial for interacting with the health care system. In a sustainable world, future healthcare must be accessible to all, and we must ensure that people from migrant backgrounds have got the resources to manage their health. Inequalities in immigrants’ health profiles, a sign of ineffective integration policies, could be mitigated by improving HL levels. The aim of the study was to investigate the space given to HL within formal immigrant learning contexts; the study featured a questionnaire that was intended as a probe into some specific needs and discomforts connected with the condition of translingualism and with the related trauma, which may have a negative impact on language learning. Such interweaving offers a different perspective that generates new teaching practices and the creation of a Language Desk that through language, health literacy and narrative medicine promotes equitable, safe and sustainable learning contexts that enhance the experience of translingualism in all its forms.