Page 6 - The Medical Interprete
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THE MEDICAL INTERPRETER

                      Communicative autonomy and medical interpreting

                                                               Communicative autonomy is necessary to have
                                                               meaningful access to vital community services like
                                                               healthcare. Without interpreters, language barriers
                                                               can make meaningful communication impossible.
                                                               The authors believe that the idea of communicative
                                                               autonomy is the “foundational” concept of community
                                                               interpreting. It is a guiding principle for community
                                                               interpreters–including medical interpreters.

                                                               Let’s look at what happens when people do not control
                                                               their own communication. When individuals who are
                  not qualified to interpret (such as family or friends) try to interpret, they tend to add to or change the
                  message. They often summarize, give opinions and find they do not know medical terminology or
                  even how to interpret basic words for symptoms (like “jabbing pain” or “lightheaded”).


                  Without direct, accurate answers from the patient, the doctor cannot easily offer a diagnosis or an
                  appropriate treatment plan. Without understanding what the doctor says, the patient cannot make
                  truly informed decisions. Those decisions can be critical, for example, a decision about whether or
                  not to have surgery.


                    The Purpose of Interpreting

                    The purpose of interpreting in any setting, but especially in community settings such as healthcare, is to
                    support communicative autonomy. Interpreters do so by facilitating communication among parties who
                    do not share a common language.



                  Defining community and medical interpreting


                    Community interpreting                                              DEFINITION


                                                                                Communicative autonomy
                      A profession in rapid growth                             Community interpreting (ISO)
                                                                               Bidirectional interpreting that
                  According to the U.S. Census Bureau, in 2013 approximately   takes place in communicative
                  61.6 million individuals spoke another language at home. Of   settings … among speakers of
                  these, about 41 percent (25.1 million) spoke English less than    different languages for the purpose
                  “very well” and are considered Limited English Proficient (LEP).   of accessing community services.
                  Due to the dramatic increase in the foreign-born population,
                  the U.S. LEP population increased 80 percent (from almost 14                  ISO (2014, p. 1)
                  million to more than 25 million) between 1990 and 2013. 1


                  For these and other reasons, medical interpreting is a profession in explosive growth, both in the
                  United States and in many other countries around the world.
                  1   Retrieved from http://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/limited-english-proficient-population-united-states


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