‘I had to stifle my feelings’ – Bilingual health professionals translating for family members in a healthcare setting. A qualitative study

Abstract

I had to stifle my feelings'-Bilingual health professionals translating for family members in a healthcare setting. A qualitative study Background: As an alternative to a professional interpreter, children or relatives often act as so-called 'language brokers' in the healthcare sector. Litterature have demonstrated that the cultural context is significant for the potential outcome for child language brokers. For individuals from a collectivistic family pattern, it becomes natural and is often regarded as respectful, to assist older relatives day and night. Aim: Very little is known about young people providing informal translation services in a Scandinavian context. We therefore aimed to capture the lived experiences of bilingual health professionals, students and postgraduates who have experienced interpreting for family members in a healthcare setting. By interviewing bilingual health professionals, we aimed to obtain two perspectives, the translators and the professionals, in one interview. Results: Analysing the conditions, meanings and reasoning, it became possible for us to understand the young translators' situations and how their life conditions affected their reasons for action in certain ways and in certain conditions. The analysis revealed four main themes: (i) the importance of social relations and cultural conditions; (ii) the hidden burden of consequences for participants' health conditions due to the focus on health-related consequences and emotionally difficult situations experienced by the participants; (iii) participants experienced limitations in language skills as a challenge; and (iv) being 'in between' in the encounter with the professional system. Conclusion: When family members interpret for the family, the family interpreter is at risk of being excluded by the family or being exposed to and involved in highly sensitive dilemmas that may forever impair normal family relations: health professionals should be aware of this and take professional responsibility.

Bilingual Court Professionals’ Perceptions of Their Language Skills

“…Cultural bonds linked to language add to this internal pressure. Some may experience feelings of guilt and responsibility to give back to the community, either through clients or co-workers (Logan, 2018;Nielsen et al, 2019). The internal pressures felt by these professionals have led to physical concerns such as sleeplessness, body aches and tiredness, and psychological conditions such as depression, anxiety, forgetfulness, poor motivation, and low self-esteem (Alleyne, 2005;Bergman et al, 2008;Engstrom et al, 2009;Sue, 2010).…”

Testing the use of translation apps to overcome everyday healthcare communication in Australian aged‐care hospital wards—An exploratory study

“…When interpreters are not available, healthcare workers may "get-by", overcoming language barriers by using family members, bilingual staff members or resort to body language to communicate (Chang et al, 2019;Hilder et al, 2017;Panayiotou et al, 2020;Parsons et al, 2014). However, resorting to these methods always poses a risk (Chang et al, 2019;Nielsen et al, 2019), and using these methods to interpret is not appropriate and potentially against government and hospital interpreter and language policy. Mobile translation apps that can easily be downloaded onto a smartphone ("translation apps") could provide an innovative solution to overcome language differences in risk-free healthcare settings in the absence of a professional interpreter, particularly in the hospital setting.…”

The perceptions of translation apps for everyday health care in healthcare workers and older people: A multi‐method study

“…Family members or bilingual colleagues are often used to interpret in healthcare situations in lieu of a trained professional interpreter (Gray, Hilder, & Donaldson, 2011). Family members may be suitable in some aspects of healthcare translation (Hilder et al, 2017;Pines, Jones, & Sheeran, 2019); however, they are at risk of being exposed to highly sensitive information (Nielsen, Abdulkadir, Lynnerup, & Sodemann, 2019) and may not be able to adequately translate technical medico-legal phrases or words (Attard et al, 2015). There are similar challenges when bilingual colleagues are used (Ali & Johnson, 2017).…”