Abstract
BackgroundElderly migrants who do not speak the official language of their host country have increased due to extensive international migration, and will further increase in the future. This entails major challenges to ensure good communication and avoid communication barriers that can be overcome by the use of adequate interpreter services. To our knowledge, there are no previous investigations on interpreting practices in multilingual elderly healthcare from different healthcare professionals’ perspectives. This study examines issues concerning communication and healthcare through a particular focus on interpretation between health professionals and patients of different ethnic and linguistic backgrounds. The central aim of the project is to explore interpretation practices in multilingual elderly healthcare.MethodsA purposive sample of 33 healthcare professionals with experience of using interpreters in community multilingual elderly healthcare. Data were collected between October 2013 and March 2014 by 18 individual and four focus group interviews and analysed with qualitative content analysis.ResultsThe main results showed that interpreting practice in multilingual elderly healthcare was closely linked to institutional, interpersonal and individual levels. On the organizational level, however, guidelines for arranging the use of interpreters at workplaces were lacking. Professional interpreters were used on predictable occasions planned long in advance, and bilingual healthcare staff and family members acting as interpreters were used at short notice in everyday caring situations on unpredictable occasions. The professional interpreter was perceived as a person who should interpret spoken language word-for-word and who should translate written information. Furthermore, the use of a professional interpreter was not adapted to the context of multilingual elderly healthcare.ConclusionThis study found that interpreter practice in multilingual elderly healthcare is embedded in the organizational environment and closely related to the individual’s language skills, cultural beliefs and socio-economic factors. In order to formulate interpreter practice in the context of multilingual elderly healthcare it is important to consider organizational framework and cultural competence, cultural health knowledge, beliefs and customs.
Highlights
Migrants who do not speak the official language of their host country have increased due to extensive international migration, and will further increase in the future
Interpreting practices are central in all healthcare, and the focus of this study is to explore interpreting practices in multilingual elderly healthcare to develop interpreting practices which are affordable and accessible and clinically relevant in relation to the particular needs that elderly people have due to ageing
In summary, the main result showed that, there is an established law in multilingual elderly healthcare concerning the availability of an interpreter agency with which the municipalities have an agreement according to the Swedish Management Act [33] and the Public Procurement Act [36], guidelines were lacking in the organizational content concerning the use of interpreters, the responsibility for arranging an interpreter service and the procedure for booking an interpreter
Summary
Migrants who do not speak the official language of their host country have increased due to extensive international migration, and will further increase in the future This entails major challenges to ensure good communication and avoid communication barriers that can be overcome by the use of adequate interpreter services. This study examines issues concerning communication and healthcare through a particular focus on interpretation between health professionals and patients of different ethnic and linguistic backgrounds. A previous study concerning interpreting practices in an elderly healthcare context is limited to investigating communication through professional interpreters on the spot [14]. The previous study [19] from different healthcare professionals’ perspective found that the interpreter as a person and the organizational framework were two main aspects affecting the use of interpreters. Word-by-word interpretation has been questioned previously [22, 23] as the interpreter affects communication by being present [24]
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