Distressing Discussions in Pediatric Interpreted Medical Encounters: A Qualitative Study of Medical Interpreter Perspectives on Clinician Communication Practices

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.

Keywords: Medical interpreting; health communication; health equity; interpreted medical encounters.