Negotiating Language in Providing Sexual and Reproductive Health Care to Refugees From Burma: Experiences of Service Providers From Australia.

We explore the complexities of language used in providing sexual and reproductive health care to Burma-born refugees in Australia. Twenty-nine providers of refugee services were interviewed to examine these conversational challenges. In the broader study, we found six major themes in relation to effective communication; here we focus on the "Negotiating language and vocabulary" theme, which has four subthemes: (a) different system of reproductive health vocabulary, (b) use of euphemism and metaphors, (c) unfamiliarity with Western concepts of health, and (d) recommendations to improve conversations. Incorporating linguistic nuances (analogies, metaphors, similes) in reproductive literacy interventions could facilitate more purposeful sexual health discussions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]