Members of linguistic minority groups who receive care in a language other than their primary language generally experience poorer health outcomes. Our research aims to identify the care settings in which the effects of language discordance are most pronounced in order to better inform service improvement strategies.

Inpatient psychiatric populations represent a particularly vulnerable group, as linguistic and sociocultural differences between patients and physicians may affect clinical communication, the therapeutic relationship, and ultimately, health outcomes. We hypothesize that patient–physician language discordance is associated with poorer outcomes both during hospitalization and following discharge.

This study aims to determine whether patient–physician language discordance is associated with adverse outcomes among psychiatric inpatients in Ontario, with particular attention to Montfort Hospital. It also seeks to identify care processes that may contribute to these disparities, including the use of physical restraints, in order to target the most promising interventions for reducing linguistic inequities in health care.