Interpreting in Health Care: resources for practitioners, interpreters and service users
These 5 films have been developed directly from the experiences of health care practitioners, interpreters and migrant service users. They provide an opportunity to engage with the complex realities of intercultural communication in practice.
Informal Disclosures
A patient and interpreter are chatting informally in a GP practice waiting room. They are called into the appointment by the doctor.
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How do the participants view each other?
Is informal chat helpful or problematic?
When Family Members Interpret
A health visitor visits a patient with a new baby. A family member has agreed to be present to interpret.
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What are the ethical issues for the health visitor, interpreter and patient?
Is the health visitor right to proceed?
Tensions Between Personal and Professional Boundaries
An interpreter arrives at this appointment and introduces himself to the patient who is waiting.
Tensions Between Personal and Professional Boundaries
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Are the boundaries problematic here?
What does the interpreter see as his role?
Encountering Awkward Characters
A community midwife visits a patient. She arrives with the interpreter at the patient’s home to find a family member present.
Encountering Awkward Characters
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How are the social interactions in the home setting managed?
Does the patient get a bit lost?
Understanding the Interpreter's Role
A young man has a minor road accident. We next see him in hospital waiting for an interpreter to arrive.
Understanding the Interpreter's Role
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What are the participants’ expectations of each other?
Do they manage to build rapport?