Patient Education and Counseling
Volume 78, Issue 2 , Pages 149-153 , February 2010

The importance of teaching clinicians when and how to work with interpreters

  • Elizabeth A. Jacobs

      Affiliations

    • John H. Stroger, Jr Hospital of Cook County, USA
    • Rush University Medical Center, USA
    • Corresponding Author InformationCorresponding author at: 1900 W Polk St, 16th Floor, Chicago, IL 60612-9985, USA. Tel.: +1 312 864 7311; fax: +1 312 864 9694.
    • ,
  • Lisa C. Diamond

      Affiliations

    • Palo Alto Medical Foundation Research Institute, USA
    • ,
  • Lisa Stevak

      Affiliations

    • St. Mary and Elizabeth Medical Center, USA

References 

  1. Fatahi N. Experiences of Kurdish war-wounded refugees in communication with Swedish authorities through interpreter. Patient Educ Couns. 2009;1–24
  2. Hseih E. Provider-interpreter collaboration in bilingual health care: competitions of control over interpreter-mediated interactions. Patient Educ Couns. 2009;1–19
  3. Jacobs E, Agger-Gupta N, Chen A, Piotrowski A, Hardt E. Language barriers in health care settings: an annotated bibliography of the research literature. The California Endowment. 2003;August:
  4. Flores G, Laws MB, Mayo SJ, Zuckerman B, Abreu M, Medina L, et al. Errors in medical interpretation and their potential clinical consequences in pediatric encounters. Pediatrics. 2003;111:6–14
  5. Divi C, Koss RG, Schmaltz SP, Loeb JM. Language proficiency and adverse events in US hospitals: a pilot study. Int J Qual Health Care. 2007;19:60–67
  6. Van Kempen A. Legal risks of ineffective communication. Virtual Mentor. 2007;9:555–558
  7. Karliner LS, Jacobs EA, Chen AH, Mutha S. Do professional interpreters improve clinical care for patients with limited English proficiency? Asystematic review of the literature. Health Serv Res. 2007;42:727–754
  8. Fernandez A, Schillinger D, Grumbach K, Rosenthal A, Stewart AL, Wang F, et al. Physician language ability and cultural competence: An exploratory study of communication with Spanish-speaking patients. J Gen Intern Med. 2004;19:167–174
  9. Jacobs E, Sadowski L, Rathouz P. The impact of an enhanced interpreter service intervention on hospital costs and patient satisfaction. J Gen Intern Med. 2007;22(Suppl. 2):306–311
  10. Baker DW, Parker RM, Williams MV, Coates WC, Pitkin K. Use and effectiveness of interpreters in an emergency department. JAMA. 1996;275:783–788
  11. Burbano O’Leary SC, Federico S, Hampers LC. The truth about language barriers: one residency program's experience. Pediatrics. 2003;111:e569–e573
  12. Yawman D, McIntosh S, Fernandez D, Auinger P, Allan M, Weitzman M. The use of Spanish by medical students and residents at one university hospital. Acad Med. 2006;81:468–473
  13. Schenker Y, Wang F, Selig SJ, Ng R, Fernandez A. The impact of language barriers on documentation of informed consent at a hospital with on-site interpreter services. J Gen Intern Med. 2007;22(S2):294–299
  14. Diamond L, Schenker Y, Bradley E, Curry L, Fernandez A. Getting by: underuse of interpreters by resident physicians. J Gen Intern Med. 2009;24:256–262
  15. Karliner LS, Perez-Stable EJ, Gildengoren G. The language divide, the importance of training in the use of interpreters for outpatient practice. J Gen Intern Med. 2004;19:175–183
  16. Lee KC, Winickoff JP, Kim MK, Campbell EG, Betancourt JR, Park ER, et al. Resident physicians’ use of professional and nonprofessional interpreters: a national study. JAMA. 2006;296:1050–1053
  17. www.ncihc.org [Accessed 28.07.09].
  18. Valuing Diversity. “Red faces all around.” 1999. London: Royal College of Practitioners. [Video Recording].
  19. Kalet A, Mukherjee D, Felix K, Steinberg SE, Nachbar M, Lee A, et al. Can a web-based curriculum improve students’ knowledge of, and attitudes about, the interpreted medical interview?. J Gen Intern Med. 2005;20:929–934
  20. Wiese HJC, Torbeck L, Matheny SC. Learning how to use interpreters. Med Educ. 2004;38:556
  21. Kennedy CC, Rho JP. Using interpreters to teach. Med Educ. 2004;38:557
  22. Marion GS, Hildebrandt CA, Davis SW, Marin AJ, Crandall SJ. Working effectively with interpreters: a model curriculum for physician assistant students. Med Teach. 2008;30:612–617
  23. Haack S. Engaging pharmacy students with diverse patient populations to improve cultural competence. Am J Pharm Educ. 2008;72:1–6
  24. Freeman J, Dobbie A. Teaching and assessing family medicine clerks’ use of medical interpreters. Fam Med. 2008;40:313–315
  25. Lie D, Boker J, Bereknyei S, Ahearn S, Fesko C, Lenahan P. Validating measures of third year medical students’ use of interpreters by standardized patients and faculty observers. J Gen Intern Med. 2007;22(Suppl. 2):336–340
  26. Farnill D, Todisco J, Hayes SC, Bartlett D. Videotaped interviewing of non-English speakers: training for medical students with volunteer clients. Med Educ. 1997;31:87–93
  27. Hudelson P. Improving patient-provider communication: insights from interpreters. Fam Pract. 2005;22:311–316

PII: S0738-3991(09)00591-6

doi: 10.1016/j.pec.2009.12.001

Patient Education and Counseling
Volume 78, Issue 2 , Pages 149-153 , February 2010

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