While many may view language barriers in healthcare settings (LBHS) as a simple, practical problem, they present unique challenges to theoretical development and practice implications in healthcare delivery, especially when one considers the implications and impacts of specific contextual factors. By exploring the differences of contextual factors in the US and Japan, this review explores and highlights how such differences may entail different impacts on patients’ quality of care and require different solutions. I conduct narrative review through library database, Google Scholar, and CiNii (a Japanese library database) with multiple search terms, including language barriers, healthcare, medical interpreter, and immigrant. I first present a diagram to show the pathways and process between language barriers and health disparities, using the literature reported in the US. Then, I examined the literature reported in Japan and discuss the needs for re-conceptualizing LBHS. The implications for future research will be discussed. © 2015, Springer Science+Business Media New York.

Japan The United States immigrants language barriers Health minorities

communication barrier Communication Barriers publication human Translations statistics and numerical data language ethnology Undocumented Immigrants health personnel attitude Attitude of Health Personnel United States Humans migrant racism undocumented immigrant Japan Emigrants and Immigrants patient satisfaction patient compliance health care quality Quality of Health Care Healthcare Disparities health care disparity Health Services Accessibility health care delivery