THE ROLE OF SUNDANESE LANGUAGE IN THERAPEUTIC COMMUNICATIONAT THE ONCOLOGY CLINIC RSHS

Abstract

The Sundanese language is a local language that has been used by the majority of Indonesians as their daily language. It is the second most widely spoken language after the Javanese language. It is, therefore, not surprising that the Sundanese is used in many types of business including medical institutions directly in touch with society. When doctors and nurses are taking care of patients in a particular ethnic group such as the Sundanese, they may need to master the language so that they are better able to communicate with the patients. Psychologically, the patients may feel less anxious as the doctors are explaning their illness or recovery process in their indigenous language. The use of the language can also be one of the palpable efforts that exhilarates the patients’ spirit of life. As later shown, some researches have proven that patients prefer to go to particular hospitals not only because of the medical apparatus they are provided with, or the less distance they have to travel, but also because of the luxurious cultural services they experience. This luxury is the therapeutic communication which takes advantages of the Sundanese language. Therapeutic communication is a type of language transmissions that promotes patients’ healing process. It is a process employed by doctors, nurses, and medical staff requiring an approach planned consciously focusing on the patients’ recovery. To overcome therapeutic communication’s obstacles, the staff need to be ready to reveal their strong emotional feelings towards the patients in an appropriate context. Therefore, the staf must have adequate knowledge regarding this face-to-face process of interacting that focuses on advancing the physical and emotional well-being of the patients.