Register-based study concerning the problematic situation of using interpreting service in a region in Sweden

Abstract

BackgroundDue to increasing international migration, Sweden has become a multicultural and multilingual society, with about 19% of the population born abroad, which imposes high demands on the healthcare sector and interpreting services. The aim was to investigate problems in the use of interpreters as recorded by healthcare staff and the interpreter service in a region in Sweden.MethodsCross-sectional register-based study. The study focused on a geographically well-defined region in Sweden including (a) specialized care at three hospitals; (b) local healthcare, including out-patient clinics at hospital and emergency healthcare and primary healthcare; and (c) dental care. The study was based on 726 existing incident reports on the interpreting service and information from the interpreter agency from 2012 and the first quarter of 2016 during a period of a massive influx of refugees.ResultsThe highest number of adverse advents was reported in local healthcare and mainly concerned the absence of an interpreter at the appointed time. Non-authorized in-person interpreters performed most interpretation assignments and Arabic was the most requested language.ConclusionsThis study highlights the significance of good cooperation between healthcare and the interpreter service in order to guarantee safe and high-quality healthcare for patients in need of interpreters to be able to communicate in healthcare.

Midwives’ communication with non-Swedish-speaking women giving birth: A survey from a multicultural setting in Sweden

“…An on-site professional interpreter employed by the hospital was one of the midwives' suggestions for improvement. This interpreter would preferably speak the most common language, Arabic in this setting, something also recommended in other reports and studies 28,29 . Another idea proposed by the midwives to facilitate communication during labor, was to cooperate with community-based bilingual doulas (CBDs) who accompany and support women in labor.…”

“…The findings from our study show that the availability and quality of the interpreting service needs to be improved. Most commonly, the midwives had to rely on an adult relative for help with communication which was clearly unsatisfactory and not recommended 28 . This is similar to previous findings in a study of midwives from Ireland 15 .…”

“…This is similar to previous findings in a study of midwives from Ireland 15 . Many disadvantages of letting adult relatives interpret have been described, such as the risk of information being filtered, the conversation being inhibited or censored, and the relative protecting the patient from unpleasant information 28 .…”

A qualitative study on diverse experiences of medication safety among foreign-born persons living in Sweden

“…Therefore, they do not use them. Good cooperation between healthcare and the interpreter service has been shown to contribute to high-quality healthcare for patients in need of interpreters to be able to communicate in healthcare [ 38 ]. A scoping review [ 39 ] shows that this is important for a relationship between the migrant and the healthcare professionals in order to promote adequate information about medications.…”

Provision of interpreting support for cross-cultural communication in UK maternity services: A Freedom of Information request

“…Language, communication and understanding of information are central to safe, ethical and efficient maternity care ( Cramer 2017 ). There is a significant body of international literature showing how cross-cultural communication needs negatively impact people's health – from their ability to navigate and access care to the quality, safety and outcomes of the care received ( Flores 2005 ; Floyd and Sakellariou 2017 ; Hadziabdic and Hjelm 2019 ; Markin and Coleman 2021 ; Whitaker et al., 2022 ). This is especially applicable to maternity services due to the unscheduled nature of serious complications and the onset of labour.…”