Working Together: An Introduction to Palliative Care for the Medical Interpreter (QI634)

Abstract

•Identify a framework for a training session about palliative care for medical interpreters.•Describe quantitative and qualitative evaluation methods for a training session about palliative care for medical interpreters.•Demonstrate how to integrate medical interpreters into the palliative care interdisciplinary team. Approximately 63 million Americans speak a language other than English at home and yet, there is a paucity of research and growing interest in the topic of medical interpreters in palliative care. The purpose of this project was to work together with interpreters to develop an interactive session about palliative care. Our interdisciplinary team consisted of certified medical interpreters and palliative care physicians. We identified champions within our interpreter department leadership and conducted a needs assessment survey of interpreters within our health system to develop a training that best addresses the needs. We then developed a training curriculum with three sections: introduction to palliative care and palliative care vocabulary, interpreting skills applied to palliative care, and beliefs and emotions in interpreting for palliative care. We also encouraged the interpreters to share their practical and emotional experiences interpreting for palliative care. Furthermore, we empowered interpreters by acknowledging current shortcomings in interactions between palliative care teams and interpreters and shared practical tips on how to improve integration of interpreters within the palliative care team. We gathered quantitative and qualitative data and feedback from the session using pre- and postsession quizzes and surveys. The training session was attended by 28 interpreters who represented four spoken languages and American Sign Language. Using pre- and postsession quiz scores and paired t-test analysis, we demonstrated a statistically significant improvement in palliative care knowledge posttraining. We also garnered written feedback which was entirely positive and indicated a desire to continue these training sessions. Moving forward, we will continue to improve integration of interpreters into the palliative care interdisciplinary team by educating palliative care teams on practical aspects of working with interpreters. We will also provide opportunities for further training and emotional support for interpreters, with hopes to improve cultural competency within palliative care.