The emotional effects on professional interpreters of interpreting palliative care conversations for adult patients: A rapid review

Abstract

Background: Professional interpreters working in palliative contexts improve patient care. Whilst literature identifies psychological distress in other healthcare professionals, research into emotional effects on professional interpreters in this highly emotive setting is limited. Isolating emotional responses may enable targeted interventions to enhance interpreter use and improve wellbeing. Timely evidence is needed to urgently familiarise the profession with issues faced by these valuable colleagues, to affect practice. Aim: Describe the emotional effects on professional interpreters of interpreting adult palliative care conversations. Collate recommendations to mitigate negative emotional effects. Design: We performed a rapid review of studies identifying emotional effects on professional interpreters of interpreting adult palliative conversations. Rapid review chosen to present timely evidence to relevant stakeholders in a resource-efficient way. Thematic analysis managed using NVivo. Quality appraisal evaluated predominantly using CASP checklists. Reported using PRISMA guidelines. PROSPERO registration CRD42022301753. Data sources: Articles available in English on PubMed [1966–2021], MEDLINE [1946–2021], EMBASE [1974–2021], CINAHL [1981–2021] and PsycINFO [1806–2021] in December 2021. Results: Eleven articles from the USA (5), Australia (3), Canada (2) and UK (1). Eight interview-based, two online surveys and one quality improvement project. Themes included (1) Identifying diversity of emotional effects: emotions including stress, discomfort, loneliness. (2) Identifying factors affecting interpreters’ emotional responses: impact of morals, culture and role expectations; working with patients and families; interpreter experience and age. (3) Recommendations to mitigate negative emotional effects: pre-briefing, debriefing and interpreter/provider training. Conclusion: Professional interpreters experience myriad emotional responses to palliative conversations. Role clarity, collaborative working and formal training may alleviate negative effects.

A study of the mediating effect of social support on self-disclosure and demoralization in Chinese older adult homebound breast cancer patients

“…Social support is crucial in sustaining treatment and promoting recovery ( Li et al, 2017b ). Emotional support provided by family and friends and information support provided by medical staff can help patients reveal their feelings and reduce their stress ( Hancox et al, 2023 ; Orzechowska et al, 2023 ).…”

Dealing with emotionally challenging cases in public service interpreting: Interpreter experience and the need for self-care training

“…Some of them develop post-traumatic stress disorder, while others experience physical and somatic symptoms, including nightmares, intrusive thoughts, insomnia, lack of concentration and loss of appetite (Splevins et al, 2010;Yick & Daines, 2019). Interpreters working in other healthcare settings, like palliative care for adult patients, are also found to experience distress, guilt, and overwhelmedness (Hancox et al, 2023). These emotions might rise if no controls are in place, and therefore, it is important to build resilience, which is the "ability to find appropriate support after negative experiences and to use the support to move forward with confidence" (Costa et al, 2020, p. 40).…”

13 Palliative care training for professional interpreters

“…Introduction Recognising the variation in care and poorer outcomes sometimes experienced by people with learning disabilities or autism in acute hospitals, NHS Improvement produced audit standards 1 and an improvement toolkit. 2 The core standards are:…”

“…A recent literature review highlighted the emotional impact of interpreting palliative care conversations on Professional Interpreters, with recommendations including the need for formal training. 2 Methods A training session about palliative care was arranged for community-based Professional Interpreters in the Leicestershire area on two occasions. The training was delivered by a team of palliative care doctors.…”