The roles and experiences of medical interpreters in palliative care: A narrative review

Abstract

Objectives Skilled medical interpreters are essential to providing high-quality, culturally sensitive palliative care and addressing health-care disparities for patients with limited English proficiency (LEP). While the benefits of utilizing medical interpreters are well documented, interpreter roles and experiences in palliative care are unique and poorly defined. This narrative review examines the extant literature on medical interpreters in palliative care to define their unique roles and describe their experiences and recommendations. Methods A narrative literature review was completed through systematically searching the following databases: Medline, Embase, Web of Science, and CINHAL. Title and abstract screening was completed, followed by full-text review. Results Ten articles met inclusion criteria and were included in the review. Medical interpreters play several roles in palliative care for patients with LEP including interpreting language and meaning, acting as a cultural broker, and advocating for patients and families. Medical interpreters report being comfortable interpreting palliative care discussions; however, they face challenges in navigating their complex roles and the emotional impact of palliative care encounters. Their recommendations to improved palliative care encounters involving medical interpreters are careful language choice, holding pre- and post-meetings, education for interpreters and health-care professionals, and further integrating the medical interpreter into the interprofessional team. Significance of results Medical interpreters play several complex roles when participating in palliative care encounters for patients with LEP. Understanding these roles and the experiences allows medical interpreters to be better integrated into the interprofessional team and enhances the ability to provide quality, culturally sensitive palliative care for patients with LEP. Further research is required to understand how implementing the recommendations of medical interpreters impacts patient outcomes.

Understanding the Experiences of Medical Interpreters in Palliative Care: An Exploration of Measurement Tools

“…Providing accessible, culturally sensitive care is a priority for the palliative care community as a whole (National Consensus Project for Quality Palliative Care, 2018). To achieve this, including professional medical interpreters as integral members of interprofessional healthcare teams is imperative (Hsieh & Kramer, 2012;Latif et al, 2022b;Slusarz, 2023;Wu & Rawal, 2017).…”

“…Although secondary traumatic stress (STS) and vicarious trauma have been investigated in medical interpreters caring for refugees and other populations, there is minimal quantitative data regarding the emotional impact of palliative care encounters on medical interpreters (Goldhirsch et al, 2022). Research has demonstrated medical interpreters play many roles when interpreting for palliative care patients such as interpreting language and meaning, acting as a cultural broker, and advocating for patients and families (Hordyk et al, 2017;Kirby et al, 2017;Latif et al, 2022a;Silva et al, 2020;Slusarz, 2023;Weaver et al, 2022). Interpreters have reported that navigating these complex and sometimes contradicting roles can present moral and ethical dilemmas that can cause emotional distress (Hordyk et al, 2017;Kirby et al, 2017;Norris et al, 2005;Rhodes et al, 2021;Silva et al, 2020).…”