International Conference for Science and Practice
Global Perspectives on Multilingualism in (Mental) Healthcare

The international conference on Global Perspectives on Multilingualism in (Mental) Healthcare, took place on the 26th and 27th of June 2026 at the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf in Hamburg, Germany. Organised as the final conference of the MiM2M research project, it brought together researchers from different disciplines, healthcare professionals, policymakers, artists, and other experts from diverse national and professional contexts.

 

Through keynote presentations, best-practice pitches, workshops, and a panel discussion, participants examined current approaches to multilingual healthcare, their benefits and limitations, and possible ways of improving communications between scientific evidence, practical experiences, organisational structures, and health policy.

 

A central outcome of the conference was the presentation of the Hamburg Declaration on Multilingual Healthcare, which sets out recommendations for improving communication and equity in multilingual healthcare at the individual, organisational, and policy levels.

 

Programme

Welcome and opening remarks

 

• Maryam Blumenthal, Senator, President of the Ministry of Science, Research and Equality of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg

• Prof. Dr. Blanche Schwappach-Pignataro, Dean, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg

• Prof. Dr. Mike Mösko, Principal investigator of MiM2M, UKE, Hamburg

 

Presentations

 

Migration and health: a priority for health systems and health services  

Dr. Miriam Orcutt, Senior Research Fellow in Health Systems & Policy, University College London; previous Technical Officer, WHO Health & Migration; Executive Director, Lancet Migration

 

Linguistic equality in mental healthcare? Results of the MiM2M project

Prof. Dr. Leslie Swartz, Stellenbosch University & Prof. Dr. Christopher Jenks, Utrecht University

 

Will AI solve all language barriers in healthcare in the near future?

Dr. Deborah Giustini, Hamad Bin Khalifa University

 

Community interpreting in healthcare services – a global perspective

Prof. Dr. Claudia V. Angelelli, Heriot-Watt University

 

Best-practice pitch session - multilingualism in healthcare

 

Multilingual website for sexual and reproductive health

Dr. Sara Scharmanski, Federal Institute for Public Health, Cologne

 

In-house interpreting service

Dr. Barbara Bornheimer, Vitos Kliniken, Frankfurt/Main

 

Multilingual group therapy

Wail Diab, Zentrum Überleben, Berlin

 

Outpatient medical care interpreter service

Thorsten van der Velten, SEGEMI - Seelische Gesundheit · Migration und Flucht, Hamburg

 

Guidelines for using interpreters

Simone Goosen, Johannes Wier Foundation for health and human rights & Dutch Patient Federation, Netherlands

 

Panel discussion: Multilingualism anchored in healthcare: from bottom-up initiatives to routine services!

• Linus Görg, Member of the Hamburg parliament, spokesperson for health, Green Party

• Dr. Jana Husemann, Chair of the Hamburg Association of Family Physicians

• Prof. Dr. Iris Tatjana Graef-Calliess, Medical Director, Department of Psychiatry & Psychotherapy I, Ulm University

• Houssie Shirin, Project Manager, Federal Association of Networks of Migrant Organisations, Dortmund

• Dr. Cornelia Schu, CEO, Expert Council for Integration and Migration, Berlin

Moderation: Dr. Elmar Lüth

 

Workshops

1. Overcoming language barriers with technological tools: curse or blessing?

Dr. Eva Maria Noack, University Medical Center Göttingen & Annika Kreienbrinck, UKE

 

2. Multilingual hospital? Is training in multilingual competence enough?

Hetty Wesseling, Center for Transcultural Psychiatry Veldzicht & Houda Al-Kalaf, Utrecht University

 

3. Informal interpreting in healthcare – a disregarded reality?

Prof. Dr. Barbara Schouten, University of Amsterdam & Dr. Asithandile Nozewu, Stellenbosch University

 

4. Partnership with the Global South: challenges and options

Prof. Dr. Leslie Swartz, Stellenbosch University, Dr. Lily N. A. Kpobi, University of Ghana & Dr. Sarah Wessel, Berlin Center for Global Engagement

 

5. Migration is just a burden! Do positive counter-narratives have a chance in the media?

Helen Maguire, German Press Agency & Dr. Ovidiu Oltean, Babeș-Bolyai University

 

6. Crossing borders in research: challenges and solutions in interdisciplinary and international collaboration

Prof. Dr. Christine Anthonissen, Stellenbosch University & Dr. Cora Schaffert-Ziegenbalg, Volkswagen Foundation

 

 

Hamburg Declaration for Multilingual Healthcare Service

Prof. Dr. Mike Mösko, UKE​

​​