A language researcher from Boston who recently visited P.E.I. says French-speaking Islanders should receive medical treatment in their native language.

Alexander Green, a senior faculty member and researcher for the Disparities Solutions Center at the Massachusetts General Hospital, said not treating people in their native language can be hazardous to their health.

"It can lead to a patient misunderstanding how to take their medications appropriately, and maybe just not coming back for a follow-up appointment, because they don't know that they're supposed to," Green told CBC News shortly after a recent talk at UPEI.

Green said sometimes children must act as translators because they speak English and their parents don't.

"It put a tremendous burden on the young child to relay very serious information: terminal illnesses, diagnoses of cancer, the death of a family member," Green said.

Province aware of problems

Julie Gilman, who works with the province's French-language services, said the province is aware of the research Green and others have conducted and realizes more needs to be done to provide services on P.E.I. About three per cent of all provincial health employees, including doctors and nurses, are bilingual, and Gilman said that's not enough.

"This winter, we're going to be piloting a clinical French-language training so people working in the health field will be able to get more technical terminology in French," she said.

Gilman said the province has made changes recently to improve the situation. There is a new health centre at Summerside's Prince County hospital with resources available in French. In the eastern part of the province, a new video-conferencing unit in Souris can connect people to French doctors in Charlottetown.