Médiation culturelle et formation des professionnels de la santé — De l'interculturalité à la co-disciplinarité

Why organize a training course destined for health care professionals which is specifically devoted to cultural mediation in the sphere of health care? There are several reasons justifying such an initiative, mainly relating to the social and cultural mutations pertaining to the present world situation. In fact, two major phenomenas may be said to directly influence the health care scene in the current context of generalized migration: the internationalisation of diseases on the one hand and on the other hand, the cultural plurality to be found to an increasing degree in society in general. While the responses to the first scenario fall within the limits of standard medical practice, those which are necessitated by the second situation demand a widening of expertise. By reason of the relationship they establish with migrants, it is mandatory that carers should modify their own personal attitudes as well as their professional framework. In the face of the requirements imposed by interculturality, it is imperative to move in the direction of co-disciplinarity. Copyright Birkhäuser Verlag 1999