Schmidt-Glenewinkel, A. (2013). Kinder als Dolmetscher in der Arzt-Patienten-Interaktion. Frank & Timme: Berlin. 121 p.

Abstract

Schmidt-Glenewinkel, A. (2013). Kinder als Dolmetscher in der Arzt-Patienten-Interaktion. Frank & Timme: Berlin. 121 p.Healthcare providers all over the world are increasingly confronted with foreign-language-speaking patients. The resulting language barriers can pose great problems in medical settings, so there is a fundamental need to overcome such barriers, which is where professional community interpreters can help. They are not only trained for these specific settings, but also have a deontological code to follow, which addresses aspects related to, for example, neutrality, confidentiality and accuracy. However, hospitals often do not work with professional community interpreters and, instead, people without any kind of interpreting training (i.e., laypeople) serve as interpreters: bilingual nurses, cleaning staff, family members and even children.In Kinder als Dolmetscher in der Arzt-Patienten-Interaktion, Annika Schmidt-Glenewinkel raises this issue in four chapters. Her aim is to examine the risks and implications of children acting as interpreters for their parents or family members in medical settings. In the book, Schmidt-Glenewinkel uses several studies from different countries and different research disciplines (e.g., linguistics, psychology, public health, communication studies, sociology).Before addressing the main theme of the book, Schmidt-Glenewinkel positions community interpreting within translation studies (pp. 15-24). It was only in the 1990s that community interpreting became a popular research topic. Before this period, all research endeavours were focused on conference interpreters. Unfortunately, doctors and hospitals often call on bilingual laypeople -instead of professional community interpreters -to interpret. The author rightfully remarks that bilingualism does not automatically entail the ability to translate. Laypeople can support the communication process, but they are not trained for the interpreting job. In this book, the author combines research results from different research disciplines, because the field of translation studies is de facto interdisciplinary (pp. 22-24). Translation studies evolved out of different disciplines, such as sociology, public health, linguistics and communication studies.The second chapter (pp. 25-54) focuses on interpreting in a healthcare setting in Germany and in Berlin in particular. First, Schmidt-Glenewinkel provides a statistical overview of the number of migrants and the results of some surveys among doctors (pp. 25-26). When migrants end up requiring medical care, communication difficulties may arise (pp. 27-31). This can lead to 'over-care' (e.g., unnecessary medicine), 'under-care' (e.g., prevention and information) and incorrect care (e.g., wrong medicine and therapy). Doctor-patient communication is a complex phenomenon (pp.