Language barriers and the use of professional interpreters: a national multisite cross-sectional survey in pediatric oncology care

Abstract

Background: Healthcare personnel are responsible for providing patient-centered care regardless of their patients' language skills, but language barriers is identified as the main hindrances providing effective, equitable and safe care to patients with limited proficiency in a country's majority language. This study is a national multisite cross-sectional survey aiming to investigate communication over language barriers in pediatric oncology care. Material and Methods: A survey using the Communication over Language Barriers questionnaire (CoLB-q) distributed to medical doctors, registered nurses and nursing assistants at six pediatric oncology centers in Sweden (response rate 90%) using descriptive statistical analyses. Results: Professional interpreters on site were the most common solution when using an interpreter, although relatives or even children were used. The use of professional interpreters on site differed among the professions and in different clinical situations, such as medical encounter, education or procedure preparation. All professions reported that the use of professional interpreters greatly increased care relationships, patient safety and patient involvement in care. Conclusions: Healthcare personnel seem to believe that professional interpreters are crucial when caring for patients and family members who do not speak the majority language, but there is an obvious discrepancy between this belief and their use of professional interpreters.

Factors influencing nurses’ intention to work in the oncology specialty: multi-institutional cross-sectional study

“…Language barriers contribute to poor understanding of information between nurses, the patient and the patient's family that negatively impact the patient-nurse relationship [11]. In particular, oncology nursing that encompasses caring for a person with a life-threatening illness, experiencing emotional distress, and receiving complex information about chemotherapy, radiotherapy or palliative treatment, necessitates effective and safe communication with patients and families [12]. These issues may negatively affect the nurses' work environment and contribute to high nursing turnover.…”

Access to Prenatal Testing and Ethically Informed Counselling in Germany, Poland and Russia

“…This issue was less important for physicians in Poland and Russia, due to a lower number of patients with migrant backgrounds. Effective communication is key for the provision of quality medicine and has an impact on the level of patient satisfaction [ 39 ]. Given the complexity of the topic, difficulties in communication across languages can be seen as a major obstacle in the provision of adequate information in prenatal diagnostics and testing [ 40 ].…”

Mapping diversity and demographic‐based changes to a pediatric population attending a specialist tertiary hospital: a retrospective review

“…Measures to overcome language barriers such as the use of multilingual educational resources, telephone interpreters and interpreters are effective (Granhagen Jungner et al, 2019); however, access to such resources may be limited in regard to time and the availability of language (Suphanchaimat et al, 2015). The use of language translation Apps such as “Google” translate is not recommended or to be used with caution given that these Apps are not validated for medical use (Panayiotou et al, 2019).…”

“…Other studies also point to underuse of interpreters in Australian (Taira & Orue, 2019; Taira et al, 2020), parents’ choice to decline the use of a professional interpreter (Garg et al, 2017) and a disjunct between healthcare professionals’ beliefs about the benefits of and their use of interpreters (Granhagen Jungner et al, 2019; Lundin et al, 2018; de Moissac & Bowen, 2019). Whilst healthcare providers identify the necessity of professional interpreters to providing safe care to children and family members who do not speak the majority language, they do not always use them, often relying on the children or relatives (Bischoff & Hudelson, 2010; Granhagen Jungner et al, 2019). Failure to use professional accredited interpreters has obvious implications for healthcare planning, patient safety or to enable meaningful conversations and/or health‐related decisions about paediatric care (Heywood & López‐Vélez, 2019).…”