A Medical Interpreter Training Program and Signed Language Interpreters' Decision Latitude

The certificate in healthcare interpreting (CHI) is a medical signed language interpreter training program in the U.S. This qualitative study consisted of focus groups to examine the effect of CHI on graduates' views of their role, responsibilities, and decision latitude. Analysis suggests that CHI may be shifting practitioners from a restrictive conduit model (taking no action when faced with a decision) to a values-based approach. Also outlined are features of the program that contribute to this shift.

Sight Translation

In this chapter, we will provide updated knowledge in the discussion of how to define sight translation. Furthermore, we will present a discussion of best practices in sight translation in a health care context, not only related to the process of sight translating, but also to challenges regarding the listener's accessibility to sight translated texts. Furthermore, we will present our curriculum for sight translation at Oslo Metropolitan University and explain the rationale behind it based on theoretical knowledge from extant translation studies and the theories of semiotics and multimodality. We will argue that sight translation needs to be treated as a unique interpreting method that requires special training, and we will conclude with suggestions for further research.

Competence-Oriented Task-Based Learning Approach to Medical Dual-Role Interpreter Training

With the developing complexity of international communication and the development of hospitals, diversified interpreting demands, such as interpreting for conferences held by hospitals and for visiting delegations from overseas healthcare institutions, have emerged in the medical field, other than interpreting in the clinical setting. Instead of engaging a professional interpreter temporarily, many hospitals are more inclined to invite their own staff to interpret, for many reasons. The core issue is to empower the medical staff with interpreting competence. This chapter examines a case study closely to summarize and share the teaching experience for training conference-level dual-role interpreters in the medical field. The research then proposes the competence-oriented task-based learning approach and examines its effectiveness.

Interpreting for Victims of Violence

Victims of violence and interpreters share one trait: they are susceptible to trauma-related sequelae. Direct victims may develop PTSD while interpreters may develop vicarious trauma. This chapter sets out the legal basis for language access in healthcare, noting the important quality dimension added by the ACA. It then reviews the statistics for various forms of violence and presents some of its enormous societal costs. It also highlights the similarity of some of the symptoms observed in persons suffering from vicarious trauma, PTSD and burnout, but notes the difference in the genesis of these three conditions. This is followed by an introduction to trauma-informed approaches in delivering victim services. Finally, it lays the basis for identifying VT symptoms, mentions two online instruments that might be useful in assessing the likelihood of vicarious trauma, and reviews types of self-care techniques for creating a personal self-care plan.

An Overview of Medical Interpreting in Brazil

Among the settings where there is a need for interpreting services, healthcare contexts require special attention, given the complex nature of medical practice, which consequently imposes different challenges to interpreters. In Brazil, the language barriers faced by patients who do not speak Portuguese are handled mostly by volunteers without any specific training. This article gives an overview of the current demands for interpreters in medical settings in the country and the need for analysis and actions aimed at the development of a professional field to ensure access to health services in the country for linguistic minorities by qualified interpreters. There is a need for public policies to recognize the demand and elaborate linguistic access tools. There is an urgent need to include this specialization among interpreting studies agendas, in the Brazilian context, to include interpreting for healthcare.

Distressful Situations, Non-Supportive Work Climate, Threats to Professional and Private Integrity

This chapter describes situations of distress and the working climate of healthcare interpreters in Sweden. A questionnaire focused on distressful situations was administered to interpreters with experience in healthcare interpreting. The results indicated that distress in healthcare interpreting could be traced back to ethically and emotionally challenging interpreting situations and working conditions, and a lack of respect for the interpreters' work. An interview study using Grounded Theory showed that interpreters' main concern was the threat to professional and private integrity. Despite the fact that in general the interpreting profession in Sweden may seem professionalized, interpreters struggle with dilemmas connected to less professionalized activities. Our study was conducted in Sweden, but we argue that the results can be generalized to other countries. Although differently organized in different countries, health care interpreters experience similar dilemmas. Equal access to equitable care can be effectively hindered by language barriers.

Development of the Medical Interpreting Profession in the US

This chapter traces the development of the medical interpreting profession in the United States as a case study. It begins with the conception of interpreters as volunteer helpers or dual-role medical professionals who happened to have some knowledge of languages other than English. Then it examines the emergence of training programs for medical interpreters, incipient efforts to impose standards by means of certification tests, the role of government in providing language access in health care, and the beginning of a labor market for paid medical interpreters. The chapter concludes with a description of the current situation of professional medical interpreting in the United States, in terms of training, certification and the labor market, and makes recommendations for further development.

In-Between

This chapter uses an exploratory study that examines the experiences of American Sign Language-English interpreters who provide all or a substantial part of their service in the healthcare context to discuss the notion of visibility. The visibility or invisibility of the interpreter is intertwined with discussion and research on role, conduct, and the tensions that exist between the framing of the interpreter as community member and the framing of the interpreter as professional. The exploratory study analyzes nine in-depth interviews to reveal the complexity that exists in-between. The in-between spaces are times when the interpreter is not actively engaged in interpreting and times when she is faced with the choice to remain visible or not. In these moments in-between, the construct of the interpreter as a conduit collides with that of interpreter as community partner. The findings reveal a complex set of challenges that have significant impact on interpreters' responses and actions.

Cultural Differences in Interpreter-Mediated Medical Encounters in Complex Humanitarian Settings

Interpreters and mediators working in complex humanitarian settings are faced with new challenges, both linguistic and non-linguistic. As part of on-going research, this chapter reports on cultural differences in interpreting major variables in interpreter-mediated medical encounters in complex humanitarian scenarios. The author will address the importance of cultural issues in humanitarian interpreting, based on the assumption that differences in culture can be a serious barrier to effective humanitarian communication. The author focuses on the interpreters and cultural mediators working for the Italian NGO Emergency ONG Onlus, which provides medical assistance to migrant communities in Southern Italy at its Castel Volturno clinic. The aim is to highlight the importance of a shared culture between interpreters/mediators and their clients and adequately deal with existing cultural differences in order to enact a so-called “cultural compromise” between migrant patients and health professionals with the goal to facilitate prevention, health promotion and education, and treatment.

The Medical Interpreter Mediation Role

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 the therapeutic process.