Through interpreters’ eyes: Comparing roles of professional and family interpreters (original) (raw)
Related papers
Patient …, 2007
Objective: This paper explores physician perceptions of the ways professional and family interpreters affect their performance of doctorcommunication tasks described in the Calgary-Cambridge Framework. Methods: Physicians' (19) encounters with patients (24) accompanied by an interpreter were videotaped. Stimulated recall was used to elicit each of the participants' perceptions of the clinical encounter. We analyzed transcriptions of the physician interviews using Atlas-ti software. Results: Physicians perceived all communication tasks to be more difficult using an interpreter than when one was not needed. Physicians perceived family interpreters to be less skilled translators than professional interpreters. Physicians expected professional interpreters to serve as culture brokers at least some of the time. Although only some family interpreters were also caregivers, physicians assumed that all of them fulfilled caregiver roles. Conclusion: With professional interpreters, physicians follow communication rules they were taught. In contrast, physicians act as though these rules are not relevant with family interpreters who they treat as caregivers. Practice implications: Guidelines to working with an interpreter should include directives on working with both professional and family interpreters, describing the similarities and differences with each type, and modifying the clinical encounter process to correspond to those attributes. #
That I Won't Translate! Experiences of a Family Medical Interpreter in a Multicultural Environment
Mount Sinai Journal of Medicine: A Journal of Translational and Personalized Medicine, 2010
Family members used as patients' interpreters are a common occurrence in the medical environments of multicultural societies. It is recognized that the use of the family-member interpreter may have some benefits. However, studies show that this option also has substantial disadvantages and therefore suggest that the use of professional medical interpreters is the preferable option for effective quality care. The purpose of the current study
Social Science & Medicine, 2010
While working with trained interpreters in health care is strongly recommended, few studies have looked at the subtle differences in communication processes between trained and "ad hoc" interpreters, such as adult family members. Using Habermas' Communicative Action Theory (CAT) which distinguishes between the Lifeworld (contextually grounded experiences) and the System (decontextualized rules), we analysed 16 family practice consultations with interpreters, 10 with a trained interpreter and 6 with a family member. We found clear differences in communication patterns between consultations with a trained interpreter and consultations with a family member as interpreter. In both cases the Lifeworld is frequently interrupted and the outcomes are similar: the Lifeworld is rarely heard and acknowledged by the physician. Physicians interrupt the Voice of the Lifeworld significantly more with a trained interpreter than with a family member. Family members and trained interpreters also interrupt the Voice of the Lifeworld just as much. However, these interruptions differ in their functions (both physicians and interpreters interrupt to keep the interview on track to meet the biomedical goals; family interpreters interrupt to control the agenda). We have identified patients' resistance when physicians ignore their Lifeworld, but this resistance is usually only transmitted by professional interpreters (and not by family interpreters). We identified specific risks of working with family interpreters: imposing their own agenda (vs. the patient's one) and controlling the consultation process. Even if the collaboration with trained interpreters becomes more widespread, work with "ad hoc" interpreters will continue to occur. Therefore, institutions should provide training and organizational support to help physicians and patients to achieve communication in all situations.
Social Science & Medicine, 2021
In today's multilingual and multicultural societies, healthcare interpreters are increasingly needed to mitigate communication barriers in language-discordant, intercultural medical consultations. To orient these interactions, existing guidelines, best practices and recommendations shed light on the behaviour and responsibilities of interpreters and healthcare providers involved. These documents, however, mainly treat both professionals as individuals that take care of separate, unrelated dimensions of consultations, thus failing to address how they can work collaboratively. This seems to be particularly relevant if we consider that prescriptive documents advocate for an invisible interpreter rather than an active participant, consequently ignoring the positive functions interpreters are playing when they step out of their prescribed roles. In this context, this paper sets out to explore potential collaboration between both professional groups to improve communication as a whole. Drawing on Goffman's production format (1981), we examined excerpts from real interpreter-mediated medical consultations that took place at a public hospital in Madrid (Spain) over a period of five months (February-June 2017). Data analysis reveals that interpreters enact an author role as main participants of consultations and serve several functions in medical encounters, consequently sharing some of the responsibilities which are conventionally seen as doctors'. This may reveal potential areas of interest for interprofessional collaboration. In addition to interpreting, participants performed other clinical functions, thus accounting for complementary functions of that performed by healthcare providers. Interpreters act as clinical and therapeutic allies, patient empowerers and metalinguistic negotiators. In light of our findings, the next step is to design a new model for the interpretermediated medical consultations that integrates both perspectives in a collaborative, non-excluding proposal.
Highlights •In language-discordant consultations patient participation might be compromised. •Interpreters’ use of verbal and nonverbal means enhances patient participation. •Curricula should heed the interpreter’s influence on patient participation. Abstract Objective To investigate i) how the patient’s participation in interaction occurs in interpreter-mediated consultations (IMCs) when the doctor provides information to the patient or tries to elicit information from them; ii) how the interpreter’s presence in the consultation influences the patient’s participation. Method We analyzed 20 authentic video-recorded IMCs using the A.R.T. framework, an analytical tool for the study of participation in video recorded interpreter-mediated interactions. Results We coded 521 doctor utterances through which doctors either provided information or tried to elicit information from the patient. In 448 of them, the interpreter established a participation and engagement framework (PEF) with the patient while translating the doctor’s utterances. In 48 cases the interpreter established a PEF with the doctor and in 25 cases the interpreter avoided establishing a PEF with either of the participants while translating the doctor’s utterances. Conclusion When the interpreter established a PEF with either of the participants, they used verbal and nonverbal means that created the conditions in interaction in order to enable and /or rectify the patient’s participation. Practice implications Doctors and interpreters should become more aware of their own and each other’s actions in interaction and their influence on the patient’s participation in the consultation.
The Medical Interpreter Mediation Role
Handbook of Research on Medical Interpreting
While it is claimed that the role of medical interpreters is constantly changing, perhaps it is the understanding of their role that is evolving. The aim of this chapter is to provide an initial exploration of the contextualized issues and challenges related to interpreting therapeutic communication. The qualitative data analysis of nine specialist certified medical interpreters showcase some of the therapeutic factors that influenced their approach and practice. In addition to the interlinguistic and intercultural communicative goals, interpreters utilized their interpersonal, communication, and mediation skills to meet several therapeutic objectives. Interpreters described mediating therapeutic interaction and intervention, playing a therapeutic mediation role in addition to well-known linguistic and cultural mediation roles. Interpreters described their preoccupation and engagement in the therapeutic process, suggesting specialist medical interpreters play an important role in th...
Conflicts In How Interpreters Manage Their Roles In Provider-Patient Interactions
Social Science & Medicine, 2006
Interpreters face challenges because of the various role expectations that others have placed on them and then adopt specific strategies to manage these conflicts. This study examines the conflicts in medical interpreters' role performances, the sources of these conflicts, and interpreters' strategies for resolving conflicts. It is based on in-depth interviews with 26 medical interpreters from 17 languages in the Midwestern area of the USA. The results showed that interpreters experienced four sources of conflicts in their role performances: (a) others' communicative practices, (b) changes in participant dynamics, (c) institutional constraints, and (d) unrealistic role expectations. To resolve conflicts, interpreters justified their roles by identifying the source and location of an assignment, (re)defining the relationships and identities of the provider and the patient, and adopting specific communicative strategies. This study highlights the importance of speaker and contextual factors on interpreters' communicative strategies and management of role conflicts.
Patient centeredness in medical encounters requiring an interpreter
The American journal of …, 2000
PURPOSE: Patient-centered interviewing is associated with greater patient satisfaction and better medical outcomes than traditional encounters, but actively seeking patients' views of their illnesses and encouraging patients to express expectations, thoughts, and feelings is difficult in encounters that require an interpreter. We sought to examine physicians' use of the patient-centered approach with patients who required the assistance of an interpreter.