Table 3 Summary of themes considering healthcare practitioner and service user perspectives

Required characteristics of the healthcare practitioner communicator

Reflexivity

[12, 28, 36,37,38,39,40,41, 44, 45, 50]

[27]

Flexibility

[28, 37, 41, 45]

[44]

Self−/other-awareness

[28, 36, 37, 40]

Respectful

[12, 38, 40, 48]

[12, 34, 35, 42, 44]

Trustworthy

[27, 34, 44]

Honest and transparent

[37, 38]

[34, 38, 42, 44]

Non-judgemental

[37, 38]

[27, 35, 38]

Willing to learn

[12, 32, 33, 40, 41, 46]

[44, 46]

Required foundational communication skills

Ability to listen

[32, 41]

[27, 34, 35, 42,43,44]

Checking understanding

[32, 33, 40]

[27, 44]

Inclusion and/or acknowledgement of family

[41]

[34, 38, 50]

Use of simplified, inclusive language

[12, 38]

[27, 30, 34, 38, 42, 44]

Required contextual factors

Diversity in staff

[26, 28, 29, 37, 40, 46]

[29, 30, 46]

Access to culturally appropriate resources and literature

[29, 32, 38, 40, 41, 49]

[34, 38, 50]

Availability, quality and use of interpreter services

[12, 26, 28, 41, 46, 50]

[12, 34, 46]