ABSTRACT
Community interpreting, in which a bilingual person enables communication between two or more individuals who do not share a language, is critically important in many social service settings and notably in healthcare. Nevertheless, enabling cross-linguistic communication between healthcare providers and immigrant or minority community patients has often been left to bilingual relatives of the patients or whoever is available. In many countries, however, a concern for patient rights and accuracy, impartiality, and confidentiality in provider-patient communications has led to employment of professional interpreters who have received relevant training, observe ethical standards, and are often certified or licensed on the basis of rigorous examinations. A particular challenge arises with regard to training and assessment of interpreters of less commonly encountered languages and for the availability of such interpreters when needed. There is ongoing debate as to whether healthcare interpreters should be expected to advocate for patients or even assist them directly in navigating the health system. Some medical research evaluates varied approaches to language disparities; research in translation studies has progressed from close analysis of an interpreter’s renditions to an emphasis on the interactive roles of each participant and on overall quality in what Franz Pöchhacker refers to as ‘goal-directed triadic communication’.
