“Can you send someone who speaks my language?” Language barriers among older adults

Language barriers among older adults living in Toronto’s social housing 2 In 2016, the City of Toronto put forward recommendations to promote transformative change in TCH in order to “strengthen and support the delivery of housing to residents, now and in the future” 20. [...] The research team followed a systematic selection process to review and discuss the components of each theme and came to a consensus on the selection of the most significant themes. [...] Recommendations With the advent of the Toronto Seniors Housing Corporation22, there is an opportunity to review existing language services and processes to implement a more coordinated approach to meet the diverse linguistic needs of older tenants. [...] Language barriers among older adults living in Toronto’s social housing 17 Strengths and limitations A notable strength of this study is the large sample, which revealed a set of rich and diverse stories from the perspectives of tenants and health and community service providers who support them. [...] Housing managers and frontline staff working with older adult tenants at TCH and the new housing corporation were consulted in the development of the recommendations to ensure their relevance to current practice.