Table 2.

Categories related to the four steps of health information processing

Categorya	Processing stepb	Subcategoryc
Challenges	Access	• Mismatch between provision and actual use of health services
	Understand	• Uncertainty about the causes of unsuccessful communication
	Appraise	• Insecurity in dealing with patients’ needs and expectations • Patients’ distrust in healthcare professionals and the German health system
	Apply	• Patients’ non-compliance with medical appointments
Applied Solutions	Access	• Easily accessible services and outreach counselling
	Understand	• Recourse to professional interpreters and cultural mediators • Recourse to lay interpreters (medical staff, relatives)
	Appraise	• Initiating unnecessary examinations to regain patients’ trust
	Apply	• Patience in communicating health information to patients

^aCategories deductively derived from the objective of the study

^bSubategories deductively derived from the guiding model (Sorensen et al) [3]

^cSubcategories inductively derived from the statements of the healthcare professionals