Book Review of Medical Interpreting and Cross–Cultural Communication by Claudia Angelelli. (original) (raw)

Medical Interpreting: Improving Communication with Your Patients

1998

The guide is designed for physicians and other medical practitioners who need to work with medical interpreters to improve communication with patients. Special attention is given to the Australian context. An introductory section discusses the need for medical interpreters and explains the guide's organization. Subsequent sections address these issues: finding the appropriate medical interpreter and creating conditions for effective interpreting; briefing the interpreter; handling greetings and introductions in the interpreting situation; explaining contracts and related ethical issues; addressing the patient (maintaining eye contact, speaking directly, using pronouns appropriately, taking roles, using names); taking turns at talking; taking the medical history; summing up the physician's diagnosis; and debriefing the interpreter concerning the patient's sociocultural/religious background, attitude, and language use. Appended materials include Australian criteria for cer...

Intercultural-Communication-Challenge_-The-Interpreter's-Role-in-Health-Care-Interpreting.pdf

Redefining the Role of Translation and Interpreting in Cultural Evolution, 2018

A leader in community interpreting, Australia provides professional interpreting services within its public health system. Healthcare interpreters face various challenges for a variety of reasons, including cultural differences. Existing research on healthcare interpreting focuses on differences between a mainstream culture of healthcare professionals and ethnically diverse cultures of migrant patients. Interpreters are widely regarded as bicultural professionals able to provide cultural information on behalf of patients as necessary or whenever healthcare professionals ask for it. However, research on healthcare interpreting in a globalized era should consider the changing nature of culture. The question of whether the interpreter should be a cultural broker remains controversial. Based on an ethnographic study of healthcare interpreters at a public hospital in Australia, this chapter aims to survey how multiple perspectives on cultural evolution affect healthcare interpreting.

Cross-cultural communication with patients who use American Sign Language

Family medicine, 2002

Although American Sign Language (ASL) is the third most commonly used primary language in the United States, physicians are often not adequately prepared for the challenges of conducting an interview with a deafpatient who signs. A search of MEDLINE and PsychINFO databases for research on physician-patient communication and deaf people who use ASL was performed. Expert opinion helped guide discussion and recommendations. Few articles examined physician-patient communication involving ASL. Deaf people and their physicians report difficulties with physician-patient communication. Deaf people also report fear that their health care is substandard because of these difficulties. Preparing residents and medical students for working with patients and families who communicate in ASL presents many opportunities for teaching about physician-patient communication. ASL is quite different from English, and users of ASL often have sociocultural norms that differ from those of the majority culture...

Barriers to Interpreter Use in the Medical Clinical Encounter

2009

BARRIERS TO INTERPRETER USE IN THE MEDICAL CLINICAL ENCOUNTER. Luz Evelyn Jimenez (Sponsored by William Sledge, M.D.). Department of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT. The Limited English Proficiency (LEP) population in the United States requires interpreters in order to receive appropriate medical care. However, interpreters are not used consistently in clinical encounters. This study aims to identify the barriers that interfere with providing this service, as well as to propose some possible ways of overcoming these barriers. A systematic review of the literature was conducted using Medline, the Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), and PsycINFO. Twenty articles that presented barriers to interpreter use were identified. These barriers referred to either professional interpreters or ad hoc interpreters, or were general barriers. The barriers to professional interpreter use most frequently identified related to cost. Most of ...

Bimodal bilingual interpreting in the U.S. healthcare system

Legislation guarantees communication access in the United States healthcare system for deaf citizens and this access is o en made possible by bimodal bilingual interpreters, individuals uent in spoken and signed languages. Yet there is a conspicuous lack of research on interpreted discourse in this setting. With the exception of research on mental health interpreting, not a single article investigating the practice of bimodal interpreting in the U.S. healthcare system has been published in a refereed journal, although interpreters work in healthcare with increasing frequency. is article examines this de cit in research, beginning with a review of the diagnostic bene ts of language access in healthcare settings. Next, the demand for bimodal interpreting is examined in light of historical factors, legislative mandates, and linguistic research on American Sign Language. e lack of scholarship in bimodal interpreting and the potential impact of developing a specialization in healthcare interpreting are discussed. Finally, with the view of interpreting as an applied linguistic activity, critical research questions about interpretation between deaf and non-signing interlocutors in the healthcare setting are provided.