Page 6 - The Medical Interprete

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

20