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Distressing Discussions in Pediatric Interpreted Medical Encounters: A Qualitative Study of Medical Interpreter Perspectives on Clinician Communication Practices. J Pediatr Health Care 2024;38(2):127-139

Date

03/02/2024

Pubmed ID

38429025

Pubmed Central ID

PMC10913774

DOI

10.1016/j.pedhc.2023.11.017

Scopus ID

2-s2.0-85185299673 (requires institutional sign-in at Scopus site)   2 Citations

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: This study explores pediatric medical interpreters' perspectives on clinician communication practices in medical encounters characterized by distressing content and difficult discussions.

METHOD: In this interpretative phenomenological analysis, 13 Spanish-English interpreters at a midwestern pediatric hospital were purposively recruited and, in 2021-2022, completed a demographic survey and semistructured interview on communication in distressing interpreted medical encounters.

RESULTS: Participants described clinician practices for effective cross-cultural interpreted communication. Practices align with recommendations on prebriefing, debriefing, jargon, stakeholder positioning, and teamwork. Novel findings relate to encounters with multiple parties, multilingual patients with monolingual parents, and coordination among clinicians.

DISCUSSION: Findings corroborate recommendations for interpreted communication best practices, extend them to distressing pediatric encounters, and offer recommendations for clinicians using interpreting services in distressing encounters. Participants' insights are distilled into a series of clinician best practices for high-quality interpreted communication during difficult discussions and for strengthening language access services in pediatric medical settings.

Author List

Olen A, Lim PS, Escandell S, Balistreri KA, Tager JB, Davies WH, Scanlon MC, Rothschild CB

Authors

Kathryn A. Ritchie MS Instructor in the Pediatrics department at Medical College of Wisconsin
Charles Baron Rothschild MD Associate Professor in the Pediatrics department at Medical College of Wisconsin
Matthew C. Scanlon MD Professor in the Pediatrics department at Medical College of Wisconsin




MESH terms used to index this publication - Major topics in bold

Allied Health Personnel
Child
Communication
Communication Barriers
Humans
Language
Qualitative Research