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Access to Healthcare Interpreter Services: Where Are We and Where Do We Need to Go?

Author

Listed:
  • Alexander Bischoff

    (Department of Community Medicine and Primary Care, Geneva University Hospitals, Geneva, Switzerland
    Institute of Nursing Science, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland)

  • Patricia Hudelson

    (Department of Community Medicine and Primary Care, Geneva University Hospitals, Geneva, Switzerland)

Abstract

Due to international migration, health care professionals in Switzerland increasingly encounter language barriers in communication with their patients. In order to examine health professionals’ attitudes and practices related to healthcare interpreting, we sent a self-administered questionnaire to heads of medical and nursing departments in public healthcare services in the canton of Basel-Stadt (N = 205, response rate 56%). Strategies used to communicate with foreign-language speaking patients differed, depending on the patient’s language. While nearly half of respondents relied on patients’ relatives to translate for Albanian, Tamil, Bosnian, Croatian, Serbian, Portuguese and Turkish, a third did so for Spanish, and a fourth did so for Arabic. Eleven percent relied on professional interpreters for Spanish and 31% did so for Tamil and Arabic. Variations in strategies used appear to mainly reflect the availability of bilingual staff members for the different languages. Future efforts should focus on sensitizing health professionals to the problems associated with use of ad hoc interpreters, as well as facilitating access to professional interpreters.

Suggested Citation

  • Alexander Bischoff & Patricia Hudelson, 2010. "Access to Healthcare Interpreter Services: Where Are We and Where Do We Need to Go?," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 7(7), pages 1-7, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:7:y:2010:i:7:p:2838-2844:d:8946
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Bollini, Paola & Pampallona, Sandro & Wanner, Philippe & Kupelnick, Bruce, 2009. "Pregnancy outcome of migrant women and integration policy: A systematic review of the international literature," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 68(3), pages 452-461, February.
    2. MacFarlane, Anne & Dzebisova, Zhanna & Karapish, Dmitri & Kovacevic, Bosiljka & Ogbebor, Florence & Okonkwo, Ekaterina, 2009. "Arranging and negotiating the use of informal interpreters in general practice consultations: Experiences of refugees and asylum seekers in the west of Ireland," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 69(2), pages 210-214, July.
    3. Alexander Bischoff & Claude Tonnerre & Ariel Eytan & Martine Bernstein & Louis Loutan, 1999. "Addressing language barriers to health care, a survey of medical services in Switzerland," International Journal of Public Health, Springer;Swiss School of Public Health (SSPH+), vol. 44(6), pages 248-256, November.
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