Background: There are currently 16 million people with an immigrant background living in Germany. While the number of foreign doctors is low, the number of foreign health care assistants (HCA) is fairly high. In Germany, little information is available on the extent to which primary care teams benefit from employing foreign medical professionals. Research Questions: What role do health care assistants (HCAs) with an immigrant background play in general practice? Do they make use of their cultural skills? Do they perceive this as an advantage or a burden? Methods: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with a convenience sample of six HCAs from six general practices in Hessen/Germany. Following transcription, a team consisting of a psychologist, a medical student and the first author analyzed the interviews using qualitative content analysis according to Mayring. Results: When dealing with foreign patients, HCAs with an immigrant background working in general practice often take on the role of translator, cultural mediator, and, at times, confidant. This behavior is not confined to members of the same nationality but to foreigners in general. Although local teams and patients had initial reservations, this quickly changed into acceptance, and foreign HCAs reported that overall they had been fully integrated into their practice teams. Conclusions/Implications: HCAs with an immigrant background consider themselves to be fully integrated into their practice teams and entirely accepted by patients. In practices with a high proportion of foreign patients, they frequently act as interpreters, cultural mediators and confidants, and help practice teams to meet the needs of such patients. Considering the growing number of immigrant patients in German practices, it is recommended that the intercultural competence of foreign HCAs be fostered and recognized as a useful and necessary resource. © Deutscher Ärzte-Verlag.

Family practice Health care assistants Immigrant background cultural competency Translation

competence semi structured interview immigrant cultural factor family medicine Article medical assistant foreign worker human